as in arrogance
an exaggerated sense of one's importance that shows itself in the making of excessive or unjustified claims
she looked at him with the hauteur of someone who is accustomed to being instantly obeyed
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Recent Examples of hauteur
Her tall hauteur was piquant in combination with her soft Derbyshire accent.
—
Tessa Hadley, New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2026
Rosamund Pike, playing the spirit of loving filthy lucre over life itself, elevates a standard villain through the high timing of her theatrical hauteur.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 11 Nov. 2025
There was some explanation for his elusiveness, quite apart from the everyday hauteur of the fashion industry.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
They are written with a thuggish hauteur, as if Pacino’s Tony ‘Scarface’ Montana had been transplanted to the world of music promotion – all machismo and ultimatums.
—Martin McKenzie-Murray, SPIN, 7 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hauteur
Tessa Hadley, New Yorker, 25 Jan. 2026
Rosamund Pike, playing the spirit of loving filthy lucre over life itself, elevates a standard villain through the high timing of her theatrical hauteur.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 11 Nov. 2025
There was some explanation for his elusiveness, quite apart from the everyday hauteur of the fashion industry.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 17 Mar. 2025
They are written with a thuggish hauteur, as if Pacino’s Tony ‘Scarface’ Montana had been transplanted to the world of music promotion – all machismo and ultimatums.
—Martin McKenzie-Murray, SPIN, 7 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hauteur
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hauteur
Noun
-
Raised on a strict diet of toughness and discipline by his father, Dean arrives with undeniable talent – and an arrogance that quickly earns him enemies.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Things moved about at the top with a little more arrogance and zip but at the bottom was the ever-moving present.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Despite the contradiction, this strategy worked because elites are universally perceived as out of touch with the real world – with privileged and sheltered life experience that begets a sense of superiority.—
Alexa Beck,
Fortune,
15 Feb. 2026
-
The result is a battlefield where concealment is harder, decision cycles are faster, and information superiority increasingly depends on who can best collect, process, and act on what their satellites see.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hauteur.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hauteur. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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