high-toned

or high-tone

[ hahy-tohnd ]

adjective
  1. having high principles; dignified.

  2. having or aspiring to good taste, high standards, or refinement: He writes for a high-toned literary review.

  1. affectedly stylish or genteel.

Origin of high-toned

1
First recorded in 1770–80

Words Nearby high-toned

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use high-toned in a sentence

  • He no longer slept in the haymow but had a room of his own and other rooms to rent to the "high-toned traveling men."

    The Iron Puddler | James J. Davis

British Dictionary definitions for high-toned

high-toned

adjective
  1. having a superior social, moral, or intellectual quality

  2. affectedly superior

  1. high in tone

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012