high

high, tall, lofty mean above the average in height.

High, the general term (opposed to low), implies marked extension upward and is applied chiefly to things which rise from a base or foundation

{

a high hill

}

{

a high building

}

or are placed at a conspicuous height above a lower level (as a floor or the ground)

{

a high ceiling

}

{

a high-arched bridge

}

Tall (often opposed to short) applies to what rises or grows high as compared with others of its kind, especially when its breadth or diameter is small in proportion to its height; thus, in idiomatic use one would ordinarily refer to a high hill but a tall man

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a tall tree

}

Lofty is often poetical for high, but it usually implies even greater and more imposing altitude

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lofty mountain peaks

}

{

a lofty perch

}

{

the loftiest star of unascended heaven— Shelley

}

High alone of these words is used to express degree or intensity

{

high speed

}

{

high power

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{

high color

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{

high seasoning

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a high wind

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{

a high fever

}

In extended use high connotes distinction, elevation, and sometimes pride or arrogance

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heaven's high king— Milton

}

{

she . . . thought him cold, high, self-contained, and passionless— Tennyson

}

{

nobody else could utter those two words as he did, with such gravity and high courtesy— Cather

}

Lofty suggests moral grandeur or dignity

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exultation . . . solemn, serene and lofty— Shelley

}

{

that lofty musing on the ultimate nature of things which constitutes, for Pascal, "the whole dignity and business of man"— Huxley

}

The term may also imply haughtiness or superciliousness

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she is greatly disliked because of her lofty airs

}

{

looked down upon him with the loftiest contempt— Dickens

}

Tall in extended use is usually slangy or informal and often implies exaggeration or departure from the strict truth

{

indulging in tall talk about the vast mysteries of life— White

}

{

he is given to tall stories

}

Analogous words: elevated, lifted, raised, reared (see LIFT vb): *deep, profound, abysmal: heightened, enhanced, intensified (see INTENSIFY): increased, augmented (see INCREASE vb)

Antonyms: low