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high

adjective · adverb · noun

Simple meaning

Physically elevated, extending above a base or average level.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

hy
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈhaɪ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Physically elevated, extending above a base or average level

  2. Very elevated; extending or being far above a base; tall; lofty.

  3. literal meaning

    Being at or having a relatively great or specific elevation or upward extension (sometimes used in combinations like `knee-high')

  4. Relatively elevated; rising or raised above the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.

  5. Having a specified elevation or height; tall.

  6. 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.

adverb

  1. In or to an elevated position.

  2. At a great altitude

    “He climbed high on the ladder.”

  3. In or at a great value.

  4. At a pitch of great frequency.

noun

  1. countable

    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).

    “They stood on high and observed the countryside.”

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

  3. countable

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

  4. countable and uncountableinformal

    An institution which provides all or part of secondary education.

  5. countable

    A drug that gives such a high.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A1 · Beginner
Frequency
Very Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Physically elevated, extending above a base or average level

Used this way, high is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Nearby words

  • peak , more casual, better suited to speech than writing

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

How It’s Used

The word’s distinct uses, one example each.

  • Greatadverb

    “He climbed high on the ladder.”

  • Highnoun

    “They stood on high and observed the countryside.”

More ways to use high

  • “He climbed high on the ladder.”adverb
  • “Summer temperatures reached an all-time high.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

high schoolhigh levelhigh courthigh qualityhigh temperaturehigh speedhigh priesthigh pressure

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • highnessnounDerived noun

    Title used to address a royal person.

  • highlyadverbDerived adverb

    To a high degree or extent.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • high comedynounCompound term

    A sophisticated comedy.

  • high colonicnounCompound term

    An enema that injects large amounts of fluid high into the colon for cleansing purposes.

  • high anglicanismnounCompound term

    A doctrine and practice within the Church of England emphasizing the Catholic tradition.

  • high-energy physicsnounCompound term

    The branch of physics that studies subatomic particles and their interactions.

  • high churchnounCompound term

    A group in the Anglican Church that emphasizes the Catholic tradition (especially in sacraments and rituals and obedience to church authority).

  • high-energyadjectiveCompound term

    Of or relating to elementary particles having energies of hundreds of thousands of electron volts.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: physically elevated or extending above a base

heavyloftybigrisingpeakInformalmellow

Antonyms

Sense: physically elevated or extending above a base

low

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.