high

English Online Dictionary. What means high‎? What does high mean?

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: hī, IPA^(key): /ˈhaɪ/, [haɪ̯]
• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Homophones: hi, Hi, hie

Etymology 1

From Middle English high, heigh, heih, from Old English hēah (“high, tall, lofty, high-class, exalted, sublime, illustrious, important, proud, haughty, deep, right”), from Proto-West Germanic *hauh (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz (“high”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewk- (“to elevate, height”). Cognate with Scots heich (“high”), Saterland Frisian hooch (“high”), West Frisian heech (“high”), Dutch hoog (“high”), Low German hoog (“high”), German hoch (“high”), Swedish hög (“high”), Norwegian høy (“high”), Icelandic hár (“high”), Lithuanian kaukas (“bump, boil, sore”).

Alternative forms

• hi (informal)

Adjective

high (comparative higher, superlative highest)

1. Physically elevated, extending above a base or average level:
   1. Very elevated; extending or being far above a base; tall; lofty.
   2. Relatively elevated; rising or raised above the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.
   3. (baseball, of a ball) Above the batter's shoulders.

   4. 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. Having a specified elevation or height; tall.
3. Elevated in status, esteem, or prestige, or in importance or development; exalted in rank, station, or character.
   1. Most exalted; foremost.

   2. Of great importance and consequence: grave (if negative) or solemn (if positive).

   3. Consummate; advanced (e.g. in development) to the utmost extent or culmination, or possessing a quality in its supreme degree, at its zenith.
      • 1709-1710, Thomas Baker, Reflections on Learning

        High sauces and rich spices are fetch'd from the Indies.

   4. Advanced in complexity (and hence potentially abstract and/or difficult to comprehend).
4. (of an opinion or practice, obsolete outside set phrases) Extreme, excessive; now specifically very traditionalist and conservative.
5. Elevated in mood; marked by great merriment, excitement, etc.
   • 1970, Grateful Dead, High Time, on the album Workingman's Dead

     I was having a high time, living the good life.

6. (of a lifestyle) Luxurious; rich.
7. Lofty, often to the point of arrogant, haughty, boastful, proud.
8. (with "on" or "about") Keen, enthused.
   • 2010, Lena, quoted by S. Rosenbloom, The Multiracial Urban High School: Fearing Peers and Trusting Friends (→ISBN), chapter four:

     I'm not that high about the relationship.

9. (of a body of water) With tall waves.
10. Remote (to the north or south) from the equator; situated at (or constituting) a latitude which is expressed by a large number.
    • 2007, Zoological Studies, volume 46, iissues 1-3, page 371:

      This study also analyzed the sources of variations over an environmental gradient extending from low (subtropical) to high (sub-Antarctic) latitudes.

11. Large, great (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).
    1. Having a large or comparatively larger concentration of (a substance, which is often but not always linked by "in" when predicative).
12. (acoustics) Acute or shrill in pitch, due to being of greater frequency, i.e. produced by more rapid vibrations (wave oscillations).

13. (phonetics) Made with some part of the tongue positioned high in the mouth, relatively close to the palate.
14. (card games) Greater in value than other cards, denominations, suits, etc.
    1. (poker) Having the highest rank in a straight, flush or straight flush.

    2. (of a card or hand) Winning; able to take a trick, win a round, etc.
15. (of meat, especially venison) Strong-scented; slightly tainted/spoiled; beginning to decompose.
16. (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.
17. (nautical, of a sailing ship) Near, in its direction of travel, to the (direction of the) wind.
18. (sports such as soccer) Positioned up the field, towards the opposing team's goal.

Synonyms

• haute, hawt
• (elevated): See Thesaurus:tall
• (intoxicated): See Thesaurus:stoned or Thesaurus:drunk

Antonyms

• low

Hyponyms

Derived terms

English terms starting with “high”

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: hei

Translations

See also

• mighty

Adverb

high (comparative higher, superlative highest)

1. In or to an elevated position.

2. In or at a great value.

3. At a pitch of great frequency.

Usage notes

• The adverb high and the adverb highly should not be confused.

  He hung the picture high on the wall.

  As a politician, he isn't esteemed too highly.

Translations

References

• Yuri Dolgopolov, A Dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms (2016, →ISBN): "high on something"

Noun

high (plural highs)

1. A high point or position, literally (as, an elevated place; a superior region; a height; the sky; heaven).or figuratively (as, a point of success or achievement; a time when things are at their best, greatest, most numerous, maximum, etc).
   • 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     South Korea has reached a new high in a kind of air pollution measured in fine dust.

   1. The maximum atmospheric temperature recorded at a particular location, especially during one 24-hour period.

2. A period of euphoria, from excitement or from an intake of drugs.

3. A drug that gives such a high.
4. (meteorology, informal) A large area of elevated atmospheric pressure; an anticyclone.

5. (card games) The highest card dealt or drawn.

Derived terms

• legal high

Translations

See also

• crash

Verb

high (third-person singular simple present highs, present participle highing, simple past and past participle highed)

2. (obsolete) To rise.

Etymology 2

See hie.

Verb

high (third-person singular simple present highs, present participle highing, simple past and past participle highed)

2. (obsolete) Alternative form of hie (“to hasten”)

Anagrams

• GHIH

Chinese

Etymology

From English high. Doublet of 嗨 (hāi).

Pronunciation

Adjective

high (Hong Kong Cantonese)

1. high (intoxicated)
2. (figuratively) excited

Verb

high (Hong Kong Cantonese)

1. to be high (intoxicated)
2. (figuratively) to be excited
3. to use drugs

Derived terms

See also

• high tea
• hi
• 咍 (hāi)

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English high. Doublet of hoch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /haɪ̯/
• Homophone: Hai

Adjective

high (strong nominative masculine singular higher, not comparable)

1. (informal, chiefly predicative) high (intoxicated with a drug other than alcohol)

   Synonyms: breit, drauf, druff, zu, zugedröhnt

Declension

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from English high.

Adjective

high m or f or n (indeclinable)

1. high (intoxicated)

Declension