high and mighty

¹

noun

, (used with a plural verb)

1. persons who are members of or identify with the higher social strata of society, especially those who are powerful or arrogant.

adverb

1. in a self-important, grandiose, or arrogant manner:

   They talk high and mighty, but they owe everyone in town.

   Now don't go getting all high and mighty on me.

high-and-mighty

²

[ hahy-uhn-mahy-tee, -uhnd- ]

adjective

1. haughty; arrogant.

Other Words From

• high-and-mighti·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of high and mighty¹

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English: originally a title of dignity

Idioms and Phrases

Conceited, haughty, as in She was too high and mighty to make her own bed . This expression originally alluded to high-born rulers and was being transferred to the merely arrogant by the mid-1600s.

Example Sentences

Yes, the English, and very high and mighty.

From Literature

“And people are welcome to label things however they want, but there’s frankly nobody else doing the reporting that we do. ... That’s what ten million people are subscribing to The New York Times for … And not to like sound too high and mighty, but the market has spoken, and they like what we’re doing.”

From Salon

But many of the videos are released by police and feature people who have come under far more pressure than the high and mighty of Russia's pop scene.

From BBC

In his 2002 book High and Mighty: The Dangerous Rise of the SUV, Keith Bradsher wrote that “AMC promoted the Jeep’s four-wheel drive even though its engineers and executives knew that it had little value for urban buyers.”

From Slate

In the early 1990s, Bradsher notes in High and Mighty, Ford’s profit margins on its Explorer SUV exceeded 30 percent.

From Slate

Related Words

• arrogant
• haughty