High-key

adj, adv, slang

adj, adv, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Characterised by light tones and absence of shadow.

    "Details are tremendously important in composing an outstanding high-key photograph."

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a conspicuous way. colloquial, uncommon
  2. 2
    Used as an intensifier; really. Canada, US, colloquial

    "(except in meiosis)"

Synonyms

All synonyms
highkenuinely

Example

More examples

"Details are tremendously important in composing an outstanding high-key photograph."

Etymology

From high + key.

More for "high-key"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.