Thesaurus
highfalutin
adjective
Synonyms and Antonyms of HIGHFALUTIN
1
full of fine words and fancy expressions <his highfalutin paean to the working class failed to win over a crowd that wanted to hear down-to-earth proposals for economic relief>
Synonyms aureate, florid, grandiloquent, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-flown, high-sounding, magnific, ornate, purple, rhetorical (also rhetoric)
Related Words affected, bloated, fancy-pants, grandiose, inflated, pompous, pretentious, stilted; excessive, flattering, fulsome; boastful, bombastic; elevated, eloquent, lofty; bookish, inkhorn, learned
Near Antonyms prosaic, unpoetic; bald, direct, lean, matter-of-fact, plain, plainspoken, simple, spare, stark, straightforward, unadorned; natural, unaffected, unpretentious
2
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude <her highfalutin relatives from New York made the snide remark that her little house “has that lived-in look”>
Synonyms assumptive, bumptious, cavalier, chesty, haughty, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-and-mighty, high-handed, high-hat, huffish, huffy, imperious, important, lofty, lordly, masterful, overweening, peremptory, pompous, presuming, presumptuous, pretentious, self-asserting, self-assertive, sniffy, stiff-necked, supercilious, superior, toplofty (also toploftical), uppish, uppity
Related Words authoritarian, bossy, dominant, dominating, domineering, magisterial, pontifical, pontificating; condescending, disdainful, patronizing; impertinent, impudent, saucy; snobbish, snobby, snooty; blusterous, blustery, boastful, bombastic, braggart, bragging, braggy, cocky, swaggering, vain, vainglorious; complacent, conceited, egocentric, egoistic (also egoistical), egotistic (or egotistical), hubristic, narcissistic, orgulous, prideful, proud, self-affected, self-applauding, self-centered, self-complacent, self-conceited, self-pleased, self-satisfied, smug, stuck-up; self-flattering, self-loving, self-promoting; brash, forward, uninhibited, unreserved; extroverted (also extraverted), immodest
Near Antonyms bashful, cowering, cringing, demure, diffident, introverted, mousy (or mousey), overmodest, self-critical, self-doubting, sheepish, shrinking, shy, subdued, timid; acquiescent, compliant, deferential, meek, passive, submissive, unaggressive, unassertive, unassuming, unobtrusive, yielding; quiet, reserved, retiring
3
having or displaying feelings of scorn for what is regarded as beneath oneself <refused to be intimidated by the highfalutin manner of the sales staff in the fashionable boutique>
Related Words complacent, conceited, egoistic, egotistic (also egotistical), important, self-assertive, self-conceited, self-contented, self-important, self-satisfied, smug, uppity, vain, vainglorious; arrogant, pretentious, sniffy, snobbish, stuck-up, supercilious; cavalier, overbearing, overweening, peremptory, swaggering; high-sounding, pompous; condescending, patronizing; cocky, overconfident, presuming, presumptuous; bloated, boastful, bombastic, self-glorifying; audacious, bold, brash, brassy, cheeky, cocksure, forward, impertinent, impudent, saucy; confident, presuming, self-assured, self-confident, sure; bossy, domineering, high-handed, imperious; egocentric, self-centered, selfish; dominating, magisterial, masterful
Near Antonyms demure, homely, meek, unassuming, unpretending, unpretentious; bashful, retiring, shy, timid; diffident, self-doubting; acquiescent, compliant, deferential, ingratiating, resigned, submissive, unassertive, yielding; apologetic, cowering, cringing, shrinking; passive, quiet, reserved, subdued, unobtrusive
4
self-consciously trying to present an appearance of grandeur or importance <“fine Southern cuisine” sounds a bit highfalutin for a barbecue shack>
Synonyms affected, grandiose, highfalutin (also hifalutin), high-minded, la-di-da (also la-de-da or lah-de-dah or lah-dee-dah or lah-di-dah), ostentatious, pompous, snippy
Related Words airy, grandiloquent, high-flown, high-sounding, high-toned, sententious; arrogant, bumptious, complacent, conceited, egoistic (also egoistical), egotistic (or egotistical), high-and-mighty, high-handed, high-hat, hoity-toity, imperious, important, overweening, presumptuous, prideful, proud, self-asserting, self-assertive, self-centered, self-complacent, self-conceited, self-important, self-obsessed, self-pleased, self-satisfied, smug, uppity, vain, vainglorious; self-aggrandizing, self-dramatizing, self-glorifying, self-promoting; cavalier, disdainful, haughty, lordly, snobbish, snobby, stuck-up, supercilious, superior; confident, self-assured, self-confident, sure; boastful, braggart, bragging; aggressive, assertive, audacious, bold, brassy, cheeky, cocky, forward, impudent, insolent, rude; flamboyant, flashy, flaunting, garish, gaudy, glitzy, showy, splashy
Near Antonyms demure, down-to-earth, homely, humble, lowly, meek, retiring, unassertive, unassuming; bashful, diffident, mousy (or mousey), overmodest, passive, quiet, reserved, shy, timid
Antonyms modest, unpretentious
Variants of HIGHFALUTIN
highfalutin also hifalutin
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