haughty

English

Alternative forms

• hautie, hauty (obsolete)

Etymology

From earlier hauty, haultic, with spelling change in imitation of English naughty and English high, from Middle English hautein, hautain (with -ein, -ain becoming -y through the form hautenesse standing for *hauteinnesse; see haughtiness), from Middle English haute (“self-important”), from Old French haut, hault (“high, lofty”), from Frankish *hauh, *hōh (“high, lofty, proud”) and Latin altus (“high, deep”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔːti/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɔti/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑti/
• Rhymes: -ɔːti
• Homophone: hottie (cot–caught merger)

Adjective

haughty (comparative haughtier, superlative haughtiest)

1. Conveying in demeanour the assumption of superiority; disdainful, supercilious.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:arrogant

   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “3/1/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days‎^[1]:

     How meek and shrunken did that haughty Tarmac become as it slunk by the wide circle of asphalt of the yellow sort, that was loosely strewn before the great iron gates of Lady Hall as a forerunner of the consideration that awaited the guests of Rupert, Earl of Kare, […] .

Derived terms

• haughtily
• haughtiness

Related terms

• haught, haut
• old

Translations

disdainful, supercilious; in demeanour conveying the assumption of superiority

• Arabic: (indefinite) مُتَعَالٍ (mutaʕālin), (definite) الْمُتَعَالِي (al-mutaʕālī), متكبر, متغطرس
• Armenian: գոռոզություն (hy) (goṙozutʻyun)
• Belarusian: заразуме́лы (zarazumjély), напы́шлівы (napýšlivy), пага́рдлівы (pahárdlivy), высакаме́рны (vysakamjérny), пыхлі́вы (pyxlívy), ганары́сты (hanarýsty), гардава́ты (hardaváty), ганарлі́вы (hanarlívy), фанабэ́рысты (fanabérysty)
• Bulgarian: надменен (bg) (nadmenen), високомерен (bg) (visokomeren), горделив (bg) (gordeliv)
• Catalan: superb (ca), orgullós (ca), arrogant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 傲慢 (zh) (àomàn), 高傲 (zh) (gāo'ào), 驕傲／骄傲 (zh) (jiāo'ào)

• Czech: pyšný (cs), povýšený, nadutý, povýšenecký
• Dutch: hooghartig (nl), hoogmoedig (nl)
• Egyptian: (qꜣ sꜣ)
• Finnish: mahtaileva (fi), ylimielinen (fi), koppava (fi), kopea (fi)
• French: hautain (fr), suffisant (fr)
• Galician: soberbio, arrogante (gl), altivo, orgulloso (gl), atufado, fachendoso (gl)
• German: hochmütig (de), stolz (de), überheblich (de), arrogant (de), hochnäsig (de), eingebildet (de), hochfahrend (de)
• Greek: υπεροπτικός (el) (yperoptikós), αλαζών (alazón), αλαζόνας (el) (alazónas), αλαζονικός (el) (alazonikós)

  Ancient: γαῦρος (gaûros)

• Hebrew: יָהִיר (he) (yahír), שַׁחְצָן (he) (shaẖtzán)
• Hindi: घमंडी (hi) (ghamaṇḍī), अभिमानी (hi) (abhimānī), दंभी (hi) (dambhī)
• Hungarian: dölyfös (hu), gőgös (hu), fennhéjázó (hu), fölényes (hu), nagyképű (hu), beképzelt (hu)
• Irish: airdiúil, anuaibhreach, arduallach, ceannard, foruallach, iarlaitheach, móiréiseach, mórtasach, teidealach, toirtéiseach, uaibhreach
• Italian: superbo (it), orgoglioso (it), altero (it), altezzoso (it), arrogante (it), albagioso
• Japanese: 高慢な (ja) (こうまんな, kōman na), 傲慢な (ja) (ごうまんな, gōman na), 横柄な (ja) (おうへいな, ōhei na), 尊大な (ja) (そんだいな, sondai na)
• Korean: 거만하다 (ko) (geomanhada)
• Latin: superbus (la)
• Latvian: iedomīgs, uzpūtīgs
• Macedonian: горделив (gordeliv), надмен (nadmen)
• Malayalam: അഹങ്കാര (ahaṅkāra)
• Maori: whakakake
• Middle English: digne
• Norman: hautain
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ovenpå, høyferdig

• Persian: برمنش (barmaneš)
• Plautdietsch: huachnäsich
• Polish: wyniosły (pl), zarozumiały (pl)
• Portuguese: soberbo (pt), vanglorioso, imodesto (pt), altivo (pt)
• Romanian: mândru (ro)
• Russian: высокоме́рный (ru) (vysokomérnyj), презри́тельный (ru) (prezrítelʹnyj), надме́нный (ru) (nadménnyj), напы́щенный (ru) (napýščennyj), высокопа́рный (ru) (vysokopárnyj), вы́спренний (ru) (výsprennij), зано́счивый (ru) (zanósčivyj), спеси́вый (ru) (spesívyj), гордели́вый (ru) (gordelívyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: àrdanach
• Serbo-Croatian: надмен, nadmen (sh)
• Slovak: pyšný, povýšený
• Spanish: soberbio (es), altanero (es), altivo (es)
• Swedish: högfärdig (sv), högdragen (sv), högmodig (sv), överlägsen (sv)
• Tocharian B: śarware
• Ukrainian: зарозумі́лий (zarozumílyj), бундю́чний (uk) (bundjúčnyj), гордови́тий (hordovýtyj), гордува́тий (horduvátyj), гонори́стий (honorýstyj), пиха́тий (pyxátyj), пихли́вий (pyxlývyj), фуду́льний (fudúlʹnyj), пиндю́чливий (pyndjúčlyvyj), згі́рдливий (uk) (zhírdlyvyj)
• Welsh: ffroenuchel (cy)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “haughty”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.