toplofty

comparative toploftier · superlative toploftiest

1. Self-important, haughty.

   A more toplofty, chilling man she had never known.

   2002, Mary Balogh, No Man's Mistress, →ISBN, page 373

   2 more examples

   [T]he butler had entered, bearing in a toplofty fashion a huge silver platter, upon which lay a superb salmon, beautifully cooked and garnished.

   1897, John Kendrick Bangs, “Unexpected Pomp at the Perkins's”, in Paste Jewels

   Britain's Manchester Guardian . . . often irritates politicians with toplofty editorials suggesting that the paper is not only on the side of the angels but right alongside them in heaven.

   1956 November 5, “The Press: Change at the Guardian”, in Time, archived from the original on 25 Nov 2010

   Synonyms: condescending, pompous, pretentious