Highfalutin

//ˌhaɪ.fəˈlu.tɪn// adj, noun, slang

adj, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Pompous speech or writing. archaic, uncountable

    "Don't write so much highfalutin next time."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Self-important, pompous; arrogant or egotistical. US, informal

    "It's only a matter of time before some highfalutin developer builds a huge hotel and ruins the scenery."

Adjective
  1. 1
    affectedly genteel; to carry an air of affected importance; to be snobbish and haughty wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
highfalutingaffectedambitiousarrogantaureatebalderdash

Example

More examples

"It's only a matter of time before some highfalutin developer builds a huge hotel and ruins the scenery."

Etymology

Possible an alteration of high-fluting. Another speculation connects the term with high-flighting/-flying. First appears c. 1839 in the Spirit of the Times.

Related phrases

high falution

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