Herman Melville
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The Connotations of Haughty
Someone who is haughty looks down on others—and that position high above everyone else is present in the word's etymology. Haughty traces back to the Anglo-French halt or haut, which means literally "high."
The word has strong negative connotations. Someone who is described as "haughty" is proud in the worst way. This is not the pride a parent feels for a child who's worked hard at something, and it's not the pride a marathoner feels for completing a race. The word haughty communicates a kind of pride that is obviously full of contempt for others deemed inferior or unworthy.
The word is not applied only to people. Haughty often modifies nouns like glare, look, appearance, and attitude.
Synonyms
- arrogant
- assumptive
- bumptious
- cavalier
- chesty
- high-and-mighty
- high-handed
- high-hat
- highfalutin
- hifalutin
- huffish
- huffy
- imperious
- important
- lofty
- lordly
- masterful
- overweening
- peremptory
- pompous
- presuming
- presumptuous
- pretentious
- self-asserting
- self-assertive
- sniffy
- stiff-necked
- supercilious
- superior
- toplofty
- toploftical
- uppish
- uppity
Examples of haughty in a Sentence
Andy Swift, TVLine, 31 Oct. 2024
This information doesn’t make the prospect of leaving her home painless, but Ruth approaches it with a haughty dignity that soon becomes familiar.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2024
Back in 2022, the Padres won this series in four games against a haughty Dodgers team that lacked intensity.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2024
Some fans will be vindicated (and others sorely disappointed) at the cheeky answer provided by none other than Kelly Bishop, who portrays the formidable, often hilarious and definitely haughty old-money matriarch Emily, grandmother to Rory.
—Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 2 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for haughty 
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Cite this Entry
“Haughty.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/haughty. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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