Dictionary

high

see also: High

Pronunciation

enPR: hī, IPA: /haɪ/, [haɪ̯]
(America) IPA: /haɪ/, [haɪ̯]

Adjective

high (comparative higher, superlative highest)

Very elevated; extending or being far above a base; tall; lofty.
The balloon rose high in the sky. The wall was high. a high mountain
1. Pertaining to (or, especially of a language: spoken in) in an area which is at a greater elevation, for example more mountainous, than other regions.
2. (baseball, of a ball) Above the batter's shoulders.
  the pitch (or: the ball) was high
Relatively elevated; rising or raised above the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.
- 1919, Martha Van Rensselaer, Flora Rose, Helen Canon, A Manual of Home-Making, page 376:
  A nightgown with a high neck and long sleeves may have the fullness set into a yoke.
Having a specified elevation or height; tall.
three feet high three Mount Everests high
Elevated in status, esteem, prestige; exalted in rank, station, or character.
The oldest of the elves' royal family still conversed in High Elvish.
- 1855-57, Charles Dickens Little Dorrit
  The Barnacles were a very high family, and a very large family. They were dispersed all over the public offices, and held all sorts of public places.
1. Most exalted; foremost.
  the high priest, the high officials of the court, the high altar
Of great importance and consequence: grave (if negative) or solemn (if positive).
high crimes, the high festival of the sun
Consummate; advanced (e.g. in development) to the utmost extent or culmination, or possessing a quality in its supreme degree, at its zenith.
high (i.e. intense) heat; high (i.e. full or quite) noon; high (i.e. rich or spicy) seasoning; high (i.e. complete) pleasure; high (i.e. deep or vivid) colour; high (i.e. extensive, thorough) scholarship; high tide; high [tourism] season; the High Middle Ages
- High time it is this war now ended were.
- High sauces and spices are fetched from the Indies.
1. Advanced in complexity (and hence potentially abstract and/or difficult to comprehend).
  - 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Ivlivs Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene ii]:
    to hear and answer such high things
  - Plain living and high thinking are no more.
(in several set phrases) Remote in distance or time.
high latitude, high antiquity
- 2007, Sheila Finch, Shaper's Legacy ISBN 1434401596, page 122
  Not a one of them was old enough to know what the high past of Liani separatism had really been like.
(in several set phrases) Very traditionalist and conservative, especially in favoring older ways of doing things; see e.g. high church, High Tory.
Elevated in mood; marked by great merriment, excitement, etc.
in high spirits
- 1970, Grateful Dead, High Time, on the album Workingman's Dead
  I was having a high time, living the good life.
(of a lifestyle) Luxurious; rich.
high living, the high life
- 2010, Rose Maria McCarthy Anding. High Heels, Honey Lips, & White Powder
  I was living the high lifestyle in famous sex clubs, relaxing on luxurious sofas, in the saunas and whirlpools, enjoying moments of excitement with my male and female companions while sipping champagne from crystal glasses.
Lofty, often to the point of arrogant, haughty, boastful, proud.
a high tone
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Proverbs 21:4 ↗:
  An high look and a proud heart […] is sin.
- His forces, after all the high discourses, amounted really but to eighteen hundred foot.
(with "on" or "about") Keen, enthused.
- 2010, Lena, quoted by S. Rosenbloom, The Multiracial Urban High School: Fearing Peers and Trusting Friends (ISBN 0230114733), chapter four:
  I'm not that high about the relationship.
(of a, body of water) With tall waves.
Large, great (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).
My bank charges me a high interest rate. I was running a high temperature and had high cholesterol. high voltage high prices high winds a high number
- Can heavenly minds such high resentment show?
1. Having a large or comparatively larger concentration of (a substance, which is often but not always linked by "in" when predicative).
  Carrots are high in vitamin A. made from a high-copper alloy
- 1907, The American Exporter, volume 60, page 101:
  Anyone can determine for himself whether certain wire is high carbon or not. Heat a piece of the wire red hot and while red plunge into water till cold.
(acoustics) Acute or shrill in pitch, due to being of greater frequency, i.e. produced by more rapid vibrations (wave oscillations).
The note was too high for her to sing.
(phonetics) Made with some part of the tongue positioned high in the mouth, relatively close to the palate.
(card games) Greater in value than other cards, denominations, suits, etc.
1. (poker) Having the highest rank in a straight, flush or straight flush.
  I have KT742 of the same suit. In other words, a K-high flush.
  9-high straight = 98765 unsuited
  Royal Flush = AKQJT suited = A-high straight flush
2. (of a card or hand) Winning; able to take a trick, win a round, etc.
  North's hand was high. East was in trouble.
  - 1894, Harper's Magazine, volume 88, page 910:
    Cutler pushed forward the two necessary white chips. No one's hand was high, and Loomis made a slight winning.
(of meat, especially venison) Strong-scented; slightly tainted/spoiled; beginning to decompose.
Epicures do not cook game before it is high.
The tailor liked his meat high.
(informal) Intoxicated; under the influence of a mood-altering drug, formerly usually alcohol, but now (from the mid-20th century) usually not alcohol but rather marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc.
(nautical, of a, sailing ship) Near, in its direction of travel, to the (direction of the) wind.

Synonyms

(elevated) See Thesaurus:tall
(intoxicated) See Thesaurus:stoned or Thesaurus:drunk

Antonyms

Translations

French: haut
German: hoch
Italian: alto, elevato, illustre
Portuguese: alto
Russian: высо́кий
Spanish: alto, elevado

Translations

French: élevé
German: hoch
Portuguese: alto, elevado
Russian: высо́кий

Translations

German: hoch, hell
Portuguese: alto
Russian: высо́кий
Spanish: alto

Translations

French: vené
German: angegangen

Translations

French: défoncé, foncedé (slang, verlan)
German: (formal) berauscht; (normal) auf Droge; (slang:) dicht; drauf; high; knatter; zu
Italian: fatto, eccitato, su di giri, schizzato, scoppiato, flippato, fuso, gasato
Portuguese: chapado, drogado
Russian: обку́ренный
Spanish: colocado, drogado

Adverb

high (comparative higher, superlative highest)

In or to an elevated position.
How high above land did you fly?
In or at a great value.
Costs have grown higher this year again.
At a pitch of great frequency.
I certainly can't sing that high.

Translations

Portuguese: alto
Russian: высоко

Noun

high (plural highs)

A high point or position, literally or figuratively; an elevated place; a superior region; a height; the sky; heaven.
- 2019, [https://web.archive.org/web/20190311070055/https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/south-korea-proposes-rain-project-with-china-to-cut-pollution/4819207.html VOA Learning English] (public domain)
  South Korea has reached a new high in a kind of air pollution measured in fine dust.
A point of success or achievement; a time when things are at their best.
It was one of the highs of his career.
A period of euphoria, from excitement or from an intake of drugs.
- 2013, Daniel Taylor, Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic climbs highest to sink Benfica (in The Guardian, 15 May 2013)
  They will have to reflect on a seventh successive defeat in a European final while Chelsea try to make sense of an eccentric season rife with controversy and bad feeling but once again one finishing on an exhilarating high.
That pill gave me a high for a few hours, before I had a comedown.
A drug that gives such a high.
(informal) A large area of elevated atmospheric pressure; an anticyclone.
A large high is centred on the Azores.
The maximum value attained by some quantity within a specified period.
Inflation reached a ten-year high.
The maximum atmospheric temperature recorded at a particular location, especially during one 24-hour period.
Today's high was 32°C.
(card games) The highest card dealt or drawn.