high-wire

adjective

ˈhī-ˌwī(-ə)r How to pronounce high-wire (audio)
1
: involving great risk
a financial high-wire act
2
: daring
high-wire prose

Examples of high-wire in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
There was no life to the offense Saturday, leaving Perlata to perform a high-wire act. — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 23 May 2026 That tonal high-wire act extended throughout the series beyond the music and into the work of the entire post-production sound team. — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 12 June 2026 Even for winner Denny Hamlin, surviving Dover was a high-wire test for the $1 million prize. — ABC News, 17 May 2026 Part of the high-wire act of such books is that the authors and their publishers work at unaccustomed speed to provide the end product with a history-as-it-is-happening varnish. — David Remnick, New Yorker, 23 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for high-wire

Word History

First Known Use

1956, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of high-wire was in 1956

Rhymes for high-wire

See All Rhymes for high-wire

Browse Nearby Words

high wine
high-wire
high-wire act
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“High-wire.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/high-wire. Accessed 10 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All