1
as in aristocratic
being or characteristic of a person who has an offensive air of superiority and tends to ignore or disdain anyone regarded as inferior
at the wedding reception the bride's high-hat relatives did their considerable best to ignore us
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in arrogant
having a feeling of superiority that shows itself in an overbearing attitude
several high-hat society types arrived after we did, but they got seated first
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to disdain
to show contempt for
one presidential candidate presents himself as an outsider who has long been high-hatted by the Beltway elite
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to isolate
to deliberately ignore or treat rudely
was high-hatted by an old college friend who's now a power player on Wall Street
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in hard hat
Related Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of high-hat
Literary Hub, 9 Oct. 2025
Over the last few years, a bevy of high-hat hotels have begun competing for the Big Apple’s best guests.
—Christopher Cameron, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2025
For the opening scene, in which a couple makes out in a car, singer Stuart A. Staples croons the title track, with some café jazz accompaniment: Bass, piano, and lightly tapped high-hat.
—Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2024
The bass, high-hat, guitar, and vocals all remain distinct in this busy mix and benefit from strong detail when the track fully kicks in.
—PCMAG, 10 July 2024
As the drummer counted in on his high-hat my mind went blank: not just on how to play the song, but how to play guitar, how to stay standing, how to blink, breathe, and stay conscious.
—Chris Fleming, SPIN, 4 Apr. 2023
Adam Shell, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2025
Going high hat just did not fit, and on Sept. 9, 1927, the Bernheimer flags came down.
—Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 4 June 2022
Deja stifled a yawn and cranked up her music; the warring bass and high hat thrummed in her chest and kept her mostly awake.
—Brittany N. Williams, NOLA.com, 26 Oct. 2020
The song -- a frenetic trap banger built from buzzy synths and high hat -- debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 on March 2, 2013, the same week Billboard started factoring YouTube streaming data into the chart's methodology.
—Katie Bain, Billboard, 21 Nov. 2019
Here comes one now, rattling catastrophically, like Max Roach whaling on the high hat.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2019
Adjective
The sand crackling against the screen door became a high-hat drum.
—Literary Hub, 9 Oct. 2025
Over the last few years, a bevy of high-hat hotels have begun competing for the Big Apple’s best guests.
—Christopher Cameron, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2025
For the opening scene, in which a couple makes out in a car, singer Stuart A. Staples croons the title track, with some café jazz accompaniment: Bass, piano, and lightly tapped high-hat.
—Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2024
The bass, high-hat, guitar, and vocals all remain distinct in this busy mix and benefit from strong detail when the track fully kicks in.
—PCMAG, 10 July 2024
As the drummer counted in on his high-hat my mind went blank: not just on how to play the song, but how to play guitar, how to stay standing, how to blink, breathe, and stay conscious.
—Chris Fleming, SPIN, 4 Apr. 2023
Noun
Instead of high hats, use wall washers, which bounce light off the walls and space.
—Adam Shell, USA TODAY, 17 Mar. 2025
Going high hat just did not fit, and on Sept. 9, 1927, the Bernheimer flags came down.
—Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun, 4 June 2022
Deja stifled a yawn and cranked up her music; the warring bass and high hat thrummed in her chest and kept her mostly awake.
—Brittany N. Williams, NOLA.com, 26 Oct. 2020
The song -- a frenetic trap banger built from buzzy synths and high hat -- debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 on March 2, 2013, the same week Billboard started factoring YouTube streaming data into the chart's methodology.
—Katie Bain, Billboard, 21 Nov. 2019
Here comes one now, rattling catastrophically, like Max Roach whaling on the high hat.
—Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for high-hat
Adjective
-
While retaining an old-school, aristocratic vibe, Adare's fanciful gargoyles, genuinely warm staff, grand and intimate spaces, and super-comfortable rooms make it somewhere uniquely and unabashedly the Ireland of now.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
22 Jan. 2026
-
His aristocratic taste inherited ideas of beauty and old European style, rather than innovating with new trends.—
Jye Marshall,
Fortune,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
In the early years of his fame as a writer, Rushdie had something of a reputation for being prickly and arrogant, but Gibney’s portrait reveals a man mellowed by time and experience.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
25 Jan. 2026
-
Spock is this brilliant, arrogant, aloof-to-the-point-of-obnoxiousness genius.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
18 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
While some other schools have disdained it, particularly because of coaching searches and roster turnover and perhaps over financial costs that make bowls a wash or worse on the payday, Drinkwitz and MU don’t want to surrender the present to the future.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
18 Dec. 2025
-
Matt is fighting against a woman who hates Christianity, will take away your guns, wants Open Borders, Transgender for everybody, men in women’s sports, and openly disdains Country music.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
The crime scene was isolated to inside the home, and there is no threat to the public, according to police.—
Adam Thompson,
CBS News,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Building connections to people and not being isolated also can help during a challenging weather event.—
Nicole Villalpando,
Austin American Statesman,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The mayor donned a hard hat and boarded a crane lift to check out the vinyl wrap being applied to the Janet Gray Hayes Rotunda on Thursday morning.—
Sal Pizarro,
Mercury News,
15 Jan. 2026
-
With his dad’s old hard hat atop his head, and covered in cinema-grade grease, Beard read for the show.—
Brayden Garcia,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
An international research team has identified electrochemical presodiation as the superior strategy for stabilizing a new generation of low-cost sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) derived from lavender flower waste.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Brat Your Enthusiasm might be a superior alt-title.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Sadly, too many of us have felt dismissed or disrespected by a doctor.—
Crystal Cene,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Jan. 2026
-
After a year of Trump disrespecting European allies, many had wondered how much of the old transatlantic ties remained.—
Joseph Ataman,
CNN Money,
24 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Testers noted how plush or stiff the mattress felt after consistent sleep on the mattresses, from a boxed memory foam to a hybrid bed.—
Kristi Kellogg,
Architectural Digest,
10 Dec. 2025
-
Next, in another bowl, whip the egg whites to stiff peaks.—
Kathryn Gregory,
Louisville Courier Journal,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“High-hat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/high-hat. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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