high-flown

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high-flown

(hī′flōn′)

adj.

1. Exceedingly lofty or exalted: high-flown ideas about the history of Christianity.

2. Highly pretentious or inflated: high-flown rhetoric.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

high-flown

adj

extravagant or pretentious in conception or intention: high-flown ideas.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

high′-flown′

adj.

1. extravagant in aims, pretensions, etc.

2. pretentiously lofty; bombastic: high-flown oratory.

[1640–50]

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Adj.	1.	high-flown - pretentious (especially with regard to language or ideals); "high-flown talk of preserving the moral tone of the school"; "a high-sounding dissertation on the means to attain social revolution" high-sounding, inflated colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech pretentious - making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction; "a pretentious country house"; "a pretentious fraud"; "a pretentious scholarly edition"
	2.	high-flown - of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style; "an exalted ideal"; "argue in terms of high-flown ideals"- Oliver Franks; "a noble and lofty concept"; "a grand purpose" exalted, high-minded, lofty, noble-minded, rarefied, rarified, idealistic, elevated, sublime, grand noble - having or showing or indicative of high or elevated character; "a noble spirit"; "noble deeds"

high-flown

adjective extravagant, elaborate, pretentious, exaggerated, inflated, lofty, grandiose, overblown, florid, high-falutin (informal), arty-farty (informal), magniloquent Many personnel were put off by such high-flown rhetoric.
simple, straightforward, restrained, practical, reasonable, moderate, sensible, modest, realistic, pragmatic, down-to-earth, unpretentious

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

high-flown

adjective

1. Exceedingly dignified in form, tone, or style:

elevated, eloquent, exalted, grand, high, lofty.

2. Characterized by language that is elevated and sometimes pompous in style:

aureate, bombastic, declamatory, flowery, fustian, grandiloquent, high-sounding, magniloquent, orotund, overblown, rhetorical, sonorous, swollen.

Translations

high-flown

[ˈhaɪfləʊn] ADJ → exagerado, altisonante

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

high-flown

[ˌhaɪˈfləʊn] adj (speech) → altisonante/a; (language) → ampolloso/a

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References in classic literature ?

Let him, therefore, be permitted, in his own high-flown way, to speak for himself.

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It was a letter to her from a medical student or someone of that sort--a very high-flown and flowery, but extremely respectful, love-letter.

View in context

Mine is no high-flown affection, Mine no passion par amours- As they call it- what I offer Is an honest love, and pure.

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The liberal party said, or rather allowed it to be understood, that religion is only a curb to keep in check the barbarous classes of the people; and Stepan Arkadyevitch could not get through even a short service without his legs aching from standing up, and could never make out what was the object of all the terrible and high-flown language about another world when life might be so very amusing in this world.