Meanings
adjective
- idiomaticImposing, impressive; resolute; manly.
He is tall in the saddle (6 ft. 2 in.) and so adamantine that Jennifer Jones broke her hand slapping his face.
1966 August 12, “The Graven Image”, in TIME, archived from the original on 09 Apr 2008
adverb
- idiomaticImposingly, impressively; resolutely; manfully.
His son noted Buckley had died "with his boots on, after a lifetime of riding pretty tall in the saddle."
2008 February 27, Conservative Author Buckley Dead at 82, Associated Press
Cite this entry
APA
tall in the saddle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tall%20in%20the%20saddle
MLA
“tall in the saddle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tall%20in%20the%20saddle. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tall in the saddle,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tall%20in%20the%20saddle.
Source: tall in the saddle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.