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high

Pronunciation: /haɪ/

The English word “high” has 20 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Very elevated; extending or being far above a base; tall; lofty.
  2. Relatively elevated; rising or raised above the average or normal level from which elevation is measured.
  3. Of a ball, above the batter's shoulders.
  4. Pertaining to (or, especially of a language: spoken in) an area which is at a greater elevation, for example more mountainous, than other regions.
  5. Having a specified elevation or height; tall.
  6. Elevated in status, esteem, or prestige, or in importance or development; exalted in rank, station, or character.
  7. Most exalted; foremost.
  8. Of great importance and consequence: grave (if negative) or solemn (if positive).
  9. Consummate; advanced (e.g. in development) to the utmost extent or culmination, or possessing a quality in its supreme degree, at its zenith.
  10. Advanced in complexity (and hence potentially abstract and/or difficult to comprehend).
  11. Extreme, excessive; now specifically very traditionalist and conservative.
  12. Elevated in mood; marked by great merriment, excitement, etc.
  13. Keen, enthused.
  14. Intoxicated; under the influence of a mood-altering drug, formerly usually alcohol, but now (from the mid-20th century) usually not alcohol but rather marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc.
  15. Luxurious; rich.
  16. Lofty, often to the point of arrogant, haughty, boastful, proud.
  17. With tall waves.
  18. Remote (to the north or south) from the equator; situated at (or constituting) a latitude which is expressed by a large number.
  19. Large, great (in amount or quantity, value, force, energy, etc).
  20. Having a large or comparatively larger concentration of (a substance, which is often but not always linked by "in" when predicative).

Etymology

From Middle English high, heigh, heih, from Old English hēah (“high, tall, lofty, high-class, exalted, sublime, illustrious, important, proud, haughty, deep, right”), from Proto-West Germanic *hauh (“high”), from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz (“high”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewk- (“to bend; crooked”). Cognates Cognate with Scots heich (“high”), Yola heegh, heigh, heighe, hia, hie (“high”), North…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.