high-faluting

A politician gave a high-faluting speech about the future.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Pretentious or pompous: "high-faluting" describes language, behavior, or ideas that are exaggeratedly grand, sophisticated, or intellectual, often in a way that seems artificial or showy.

2. Noun:

   • Pretentiousness: "high-faluting" can refer to the quality of being pompous or the use of grand, inflated language.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • His high-faluting speech about philosophy bored everyone in the room. (His speech was overly grand and pretentious, not genuine.)
  • She avoids high-faluting words in her writing, preferring simple and clear language. (She avoids using overly fancy or pompous vocabulary.)

• Noun:

  • The article was full of high-faluting, but said very little. (The writing was full of pretentiousness and lacked substance.)

Advanced Usage

• "high-faluting ideas": overly ambitious or unrealistic concepts.

  • The politician's high-faluting plans for reform never came to pass. (His grand, impractical ideas were not implemented.)

• "high-faluting language": inflated or bombastic speech.

  • The professor's high-faluting language made the lecture difficult to follow. (His pompous vocabulary obscured the meaning.)

Variants and Related Words

• High-falutin (adj): a common alternative spelling with the same meaning.

  • He put on a high-falutin accent to impress the guests. (He adopted a pretentious way of speaking.)

• Highfalutin (adj): another variant spelling, often used in informal American English.

  • Don't give me that highfalutin nonsense. (Don't use that pretentious talk.)

Synonyms

• Pompous: having an inflated sense of self-importance.
• Pretentious: trying to appear more important or sophisticated than one really is.
• Grandiose: impressive in a way that is exaggerated or unrealistic.
• Bombastic: using high-sounding language with little meaning.

Related Idioms

• Put on airs: to behave in a pretentious or superior manner.

  • She puts on airs by using high-faluting words. (She acts pompously to seem important.)

• Talk down to someone: to speak in a condescending or overly intellectual way.

  • He talks down to his colleagues with high-faluting jargon. (He uses pretentious language to belittle others.)