HIGH-HANDED Synonyms: 184 Similar and Opposite Words

high-handed

adjective

ˈhī-ˈhan-dəd

Definition of high-handed

as in arrogant

having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude the manager displayed a high-handed demeanor that increasingly demoralized the members of his staff

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in arbitrary

having or showing a tendency to force one's will on others without any regard to fairness or necessity that country club tends to be rather high-handed about whom they let in and whom they shut out

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of high-handed His populist policies won strong support among poorer voters, particularly in the rural north and northeast, but his popularity and sometimes high-handed style created deep fractures between his base and the country’s urban elites, royalists and the military. — ABC News, 3 June 2026 Her work is very philosophical without feeling high-handed. — Hannah Jocelyn, New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2026 But his high-handed, arbitrary seizure of power may have permanently scarred the system of careful checks and balances meant to keep government at all levels accountable to the people. — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Aug. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for high-handed

Adjective

Steve Buscemi as Harry’s regular fence; Tatiana Maslany as his estranged daughter; and Will Price as the arrogant, heat-packing scion of a Manhattan crime family also star.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 23 Oct. 2026
Ever-sensible Elinor, who never asks for much, has already met, and fallen for, Edward Ferrars (George MacKay), Fanny’s brother, as kind and modest as Fanny is arrogant.

— Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of arrogant

Adjective

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found al-Faraj’s detention arbitrary, according to a report published in December 2024.

— Toria Sheffield, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2026
Someone set the arbitrary number at ten, and the whole point of the exercise is to whittle the list down to ten.

— Brian Moylan, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026