high-definition

adjective

high-def·​i·​ni·​tion ˈhī-ˌde-fə-ˈni-shən 

: being or relating to an often digital television system that has either 720 or 1080 scan lines per frame and a wide-screen format

high definition noun

a program broadcast in high definition

Examples of high-definition in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The exhibit combines ultra-high-definition images taken by the James Webb Telescope with giant models of the planets and suns. —Heather McRea, Oc Register, 18 Jan. 2026

Their necks contorted slightly and smiles spread across their faces as the high-definition videos started and their journeys commenced. —Haven Daley, Los Angeles Times, 11 Jan. 2026

Located on a mountaintop in Chile, the observatory will repeatedly scan the sky for 10 years using the 3,200 megapixel LSST Camera to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our universe. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 8 Jan. 2026

That effort, a 10-year project called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), will create a wide-view, high-definition, time-lapse record of the universe. —Mike Wall, Space.com, 8 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1981, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for high-definition

• academician
• cycloaddition
• decomposition
• diagnostician
• disinhibition
• indisposition
• interposition
• juxtaposition
• mathematician
• metacognition
• metaphysician
• neurotransmission

Kids Definition

high-definition

adjective

: relating to or being a television with a more detailed and sharper picture than usual