high-flown

English

Adjective

high-flown (comparative more high-flown, superlative most high-flown)

  1. pretentiously eloquent; highly figurative
    • Red River Settlement is, to use a high-flown expression, an oasis in the desert, and may be likened to a spot upon the moon or a solitary ship upon the ocean. In plain English, it is an isolated settlement on the borders of one of the vast prairies of North America. — R.M. Ballantyne, "Hudson Bay", 1850
  2. lofty, extravagant, refined
    • It seems to me he makes troubles, by expecting every one else to be as quixotic as himself. He is not likely to find high-flown notions among ordinary business men! — Mrs George de Horne Vaizey, "A Houseful of Girls", 1905

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