Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of noble birth.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of high rank by birth; of noble birth or extraction.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of noble or aristocratic birth. Contrasted with
lowborn andcommon .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective archaic Of high
social standing as a result of having been born a member of anupper -level socialclass . - adjective archaic Born a member of an upper-level social class (although not necessarily retaining high social standing)
- adjective Of, pertaining to, or befitting people of high social standing.
- adjective figuratively Of
superior orpremium quality;magnificent ;expensive .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective belonging to the peerage
Etymologies
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Examples
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She was surrounded by thousands of onlookers, including two dozen of the so-called highborn, as well as Tanek and Sirajaldin.
Breakdowns Scott Ciencin 2003
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"Superfluous" sons and daughters were often sent to one temple or another; the sons of the highborn were the ones that became the priests that were ultimately placed in the best situations.
Brightly Burning Lackey, Mercedes 2000
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Country folk in both the United States and Mexico often live under unfortunate circumstances but that does not excuse your belittling them because you consider yourself to be "highborn".
small town living 2004
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She'd been careful to dye equal amounts of all three kinds of thread, too - linen for embroidering on light fabrics, sheep's wool for tapestry work on canvas, such as highborn ladies indulged in, or for embroidering woolen clothing and leather, and chirra-wool for work on heavier fabrics than linen.
Owlsight Lackey, Mercedes 1998
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She was an accomplished flirt—but then, this was the golden age of flirting among the highborn on both sides of the Atlantic.
George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011
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She was an accomplished flirt—but then, this was the golden age of flirting among the highborn on both sides of the Atlantic.
George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011
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Livia is the highborn conniver who facilitates both intrigues, and later falls for Bianca's lowborn husband, Leantio.
Theater review: Constellation Theatre's 'Women Beware Women' Celia Wren 2010
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In America the intense desire to accumulate wealth and power was democratized; the wealthy, the highborn, the titled, the poor immigrant boy, the disappointed New England businessman, the dispossessed farmer, the unemployed young man all believed they had a right to the pots of gold at the end of the American rainbow.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
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She was an accomplished flirt—but then, this was the golden age of flirting among the highborn on both sides of the Atlantic.
George Washington’s First War David A. Clary 2011
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In America the intense desire to accumulate wealth and power was democratized; the wealthy, the highborn, the titled, the poor immigrant boy, the disappointed New England businessman, the dispossessed farmer, the unemployed young man all believed they had a right to the pots of gold at the end of the American rainbow.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
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