High-sounding
adj
adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Having an elevated or moralistic tone; pompous.
"The glittering crowd, whose high-sounding names ever and anon reached her ear—the magnificent room—the splendour of the dresses—the diamonds shining amid the elaborately curled tresses she had been accustomed to see in their native darkness, their summer ornament the half-blown rose, and their winter-wreath the myrtle-branch—all oppressed her with the sense of change."
- 2 Oratorial, sometimes to the point of sounding contrived.
Adjective
- 1 pretentious (especially with regard to language or ideals) wordnet
Example
More examples"He always talks in such high-sounding terms."
More for "high-sounding"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.