top-lofty

Quite apart from the mechanical difficulties of the thing, the paltry sums involved, and the ghastly risk he'd have been running, all of which I'd pointed out, there was my knowledge of the man's character, which was that of a top-lofty prig with immense notions of his own dignity, who'd have regarded cheating as shocking bad form, and never mind dishonesty.

Watershed 2010

He goes top-lofty with gassy eloquence, reminiscent of not only VDH but Max Boot in his parade-march prose.

Batchelor Fodder: James Wolcott Wolcott, James, 1952- 2009

It resembles the structure of many historical and category romances, as well, only replacing the top-lofty duke or marquis with a vampire, or the foreign billionaire with an alpha werewolf.

Romancing the Beast Victoria Janssen 2009

And for those whose pockets ran to more than the stipend, some of the more top-lofty of the Blues, he'd wagered against such things as a plush coverlet, a map to hang on his wall so that he wouldn't need to be always running up to the Library, and, oddly enough, books.

Take A Thief Lackey, Mercedes 2001

Quite apart from the mechanical difficulties of the thing, the paltry sums involved, and the ghastly risk he'd have been running, all of which I'd pointed out, there was my knowledge of the man's character, which was that of a top-lofty prig with immense notions of his own dignity, who'd have regarded cheating as shocking bad form, and never mind dishonesty.

Flashman And The Tiger Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1999

She was too top-lofty by far, considering she was probably a governess or a nursery nurse, judging by the competent way she had soothed the child.

The Last Gamble Nichols, Mary 1996

Each suggestion was more abhorrent than the last, but she must do something to earn a living and it was no good being top-lofty about it.

The Last Gamble Nichols, Mary 1996

Then she was curtsying before the Duchess who was regal in purple silk despite her tiny size, though the feathers in her headdress added a good foot to her height, and being greeted warmly, even kissed, by a radiant Fanny floating in a cloud of white, and passing on to curtsy formally 'to a black-clad Lord Stormaston at his most top-lofty and impressive.

The Outrageous Dowager Westleigh, Sarah 1996

His father was too top-lofty to consider an heiress outside his own narrow circle.

The Last Gamble Nichols, Mary 1996

Knyvett drifted away after this cold reception, and it was only after he had gone that Hornblower realised that Knyvett must have received an impression of a top-lofty peer with hardly bare politeness for a mere packet-captain.

Hornblower In The West Indies Forester, C. S. 1958