“Standing 787 feet tall, the tower was one of the last of the era—when downtown Dallas’ skyline was defined by highfalutin [ˌhaɪfəˈlutən] oil execs, bankers, financiers and the architects who used steel, concrete and glass to erect opulent monuments to their economic success.” — Nick Wooten, The Dallas Morning News, 9 Jan. 2026

highfalutin
adj [ˌhaɪfəˈlutən]

Something or someone described as highfalutin seems, or is trying to seem, great or important.

Highfalutin has a fine purpose: to describe pretentious people or language without making the person using it sound, well, pretentious... Highfalutin first appeared as American slang in the early 1800s, and like many slang terms...

English