HIGH definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary (2025)

Something that is high extends a long way from the bottom to the top when it is upright. You do not use high to describe people, animals, or plants.

...a house, with a high wall all around it.

Mount Marcy is the highest mountain in the Adirondacks.

...high-heeled shoes.

The gate was too high for them to climb.

...wagons packed high with bureaus, bedding, and cooking pots.

You use high to talk or ask about how much something upright measures from the bottom to the top.

...an elegant bronze horse only nine inches high.

The grass in the yard was waist high.

Measure your garage: how high is the door?

If something is high, it is a long way above the ground, above sea level, or above a person or thing.

I looked down from the high window.

The bridge was high, jacked up on wooden piers.

The sun was high in the sky, blazing down on us.

In the village, high above Taormina, you can sample the famous almond wine made there.

High is also an adverb.

...being able to run faster or jump higher than other people.

See high up

You can use high to indicate that something is great in amount, degree, or intensity.

...the European country with the highest birth rate.

Official reports said casualties were high.

The higher the risk of lending money, the higher is the interest rate demanded by the lenders.

High winds have knocked down trees and power lines.

Commercialisation has given many sports a higher profile.

High is also an adverb.

He expects the unemployment figures to rise even higher in coming months.

See the high 70s/80s/90s

If a food or other substance is high in a particular ingredient, it contains a large amount of that ingredient.

Don't indulge in rich sauces, fried food and thick pastry as these are high in fat. [+ in]

...a superb compost, high in calcium.

If something reaches a high of a particular amount or degree, that is the greatest it has ever been.

Traffic from Jordan to Iraq is down to a dozen loaded lorries a day, compared with a high of 200 a day. [+ of]

The price of oil reached an all-time high.

If you say that something is a high priority or is high on your list, you mean that you consider it to be one of the most important things you have to do or deal with.

The Labour Party has not made the issue a high priority.

Economic reform is high on the agenda. [+ on]

Someone who is high in a particular profession or society, or has a high position, has a very important position and has great authority and influence.

Was there anyone high in the administration who was an advocate of a different policy? [+ in]

Every single one of the arms companies is controlled by the families of high officials.

...corruption in high places.

...high social class.

See high up

You can use high to describe something that is advanced or complex.

Neither Anna nor I are interested in high finance.

...the rise of Japan's high technology industries.

If you aim high, you try to obtain or to achieve the best that you can.

You should not be afraid to aim high in the quest for an improvement in your income.

We just do not set our sights high enough.

If someone has a high reputation, or people have a high opinion of them, people think they are very good in some way, for example at their work.

She has always had a high reputation for her excellent short stories.

People have such high expectations of you.

If the quality or standard of something is high, it is very good indeed.

This is high quality stuff.

His team were of the highest calibre.

Schools award scholarships for high academic achievement.

If someone has high principles, they are morally good.

He was a man of the highest principles.

A high sound or voice is close to the top of a particular range of notes.

Her high voice really irritated Maria.

When a river is high, it contains much more water than usual.

The waters of the Yangtze River are dangerously high for the time of year.

If your spirits are high, you feel happy and excited.

Her spirits were high with the hope of seeing Nick in minutes rather than hours.

If someone is high on drink or drugs, they are affected by the alcoholic drink or drugs they have taken.

[informal]

He was too high on drugs and alcohol to remember them. [+ on]

A high is a feeling or mood of great excitement or happiness.

[informal]

See on high

See high and dry

See highs and lows

See to look high and low