What does "tall" mean?
Someone or something that is tall.
Tall
/tɔːl/ adj, noun
adj, noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Someone or something that is tall.
- Grammar: tall is listed as adj, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: a bit thick, a bit thin, a mile long, absurd.
- Useful contrasts: deep, shallow, short.
- Usage evidence: There is a tall man in the classroom.
How to use "tall"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tall" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tall" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tall" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tall" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tall" is acting as adj, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "a bit thick" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tall", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Someone or something that is tall. nonstandard, possibly
"But in the second generation of hybrids (from seed of the first) talls and dwarfs were both present, and in the proportion of twelve talls to four dwarfs."
- 2 a garment size for a tall person wordnet
- 3 A clothing size for taller people.
"Do you have this in a tall?"
- 4 A tall serving of a drink, especially one from Starbucks, which contains 12 ounces.
Adjective
- 1 Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall.
"Being tall is an advantage in basketball."
- 2 Having its top a long way up; having a great vertical (and often greater than horizontal) extent. usually
"Tall trees, at least about 30m high."
- 3 Hard to believe, such as a tall story or a tall tale.
""That's tall talk." "Not an inch taller than the truth.""
- 4 Smaller than grande, usually 8 ounces (~ 230 ml). US
- 5 Obsequious; obedient. obsolete
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 Seemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome. obsolete
- 7 Bold; brave; courageous; valiant. obsolete
- 8 Fine; proper; admirable; great; excellent. archaic
Adjective
- 1 too improbable to admit of belief wordnet
- 2 impressively difficult wordnet
- 3 lofty in style wordnet
- 4 great in vertical dimension; high in stature wordnet
- 5 having a specified height wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"There is a tall man in the classroom."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tall"?
Common synonyms include: a bit thick, a bit thin, a mile long, absurd, affected, alta.
How do you use "tall" in a sentence?
There is a tall man in the classroom.
How do you pronounce "tall"?
Pronounced /tɔːl/.
Etymology
From Middle English tall, talle, tal (“seemly, becoming, handsome, good-looking, excellent, good, valiant, lively in speech, bold, great, large, big”), from Old English *tæl, ġetæl (“swift, ready, having mastery of”), from Proto-Germanic *talaz (“submissive, pliable, obedient”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol-, *del- (“to aim, calculate, adjust, reckon”). Cognate with Scots tal (“high, lofty, tall”), Old Frisian tel (“swift”), Old Saxon gital (“quick”), Old High German gizal (“active, agile”), Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌰𐌻𐍃 (untals, “indocile, disobedient”). The Oxford English Dictionary notes: "The sense development [of tall] is remarkable, but is paralleled more or less by that of other adjectives expressing estimation, such as buxom, canny, clean, clever, cunning, deft, elegant, handsome, pretty, proper; German klein, as compared with English clean, presents the antithesis to modern tall as compared to tall in early Middle English. It has been conjectured that in the sense 'high of stature' it is a different word, adopted from the Welsh tal in some sense; but the latter is, according to Professor Rhŷs, merely a 16th-century borrowing of the English word (in Owen Pughe's Dictionary erroneously mixed up with the genuine Welsh word tal (“end, brow, forehead”), with which it has no possible connection.)"