highfalutin

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   informal and disapproving: pompous, pretentious, or designed to seem important or sophisticated

   The speaker's highfalutin language concealed a very simple proposal.

2. 2
   noun

   pompous or pretentious speech or writing

   The editor cut the highfalutin and stated the argument plainly.

An American formation first recorded in the nineteenth century. Its exact origin is uncertain; high-fluting and high-flying have both been proposed, fitting its early association with lofty, inflated speech or manners.

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