Synonyms of high-handed

high-handed

adjective

ˈhī-ˈhan-dəd 

1

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

• arrogant
• cavalier
• superior
• supercilious
• domineering
• high-and-mighty
• bumptious
• haughty
• uppity
• important
• sniffy
• pretentious
• dominant
• assumptive
• pompous
• presumptuous
• masterful
• hifalutin
• imperious
• uppish
• smug
• huffy
• authoritarian
• peremptory
• chesty
• patronizing
• high-hat
• dominating
• overweening
• self-assertive
• lordly
• presuming
• highfalutin
• condescending
• proud
• huffish
• impudent
• toploftical
• stiff-necked
• bossy
• lofty
• self-asserting
• toplofty
• snobbish
• egotistical
• magisterial
• disdainful
• snooty
• pontifical
• boastful
• snobby
• saucy
• bombastic
• cocky
• vainglorious
• egoistical
• conceited
• egocentric
• impertinent
• hubristic
• vain
• swaggering
• narcissistic
• blusterous
• egotistic
• blustery
• egoistic
• complacent
• uninhibited
• self-centered
• pontificating
• prideful
• stuck-up
• immodest
• extraverted
• self-satisfied
• self-complacent
• self-conceited
• brash
• braggy
• braggart
• bragging
• extroverted
• unreserved
• self-promoting
• self-flattering
• self-pleased
• self-affected
• self-loving
• self-applauding
• orgulous
• forward

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• humble
• modest
• timid
• unpretentious
• lowly
• subdued
• bashful
• sheepish
• diffident
• passive
• shy
• introverted
• deferential
• demure
• shrinking
• mousy
• meek
• acquiescent
• submissive
• unassuming
• unobtrusive
• unassertive
• compliant
• unarrogant
• unaggressive
• yielding
• quiet
• mousey
• self-critical
• cringing
• self-doubting
• reserved
• overmodest
• retiring
• cowering

2

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

• arbitrary
• arrogant
• wilful
• authoritarian
• unfair
• unreasonable
• dictatorial
• inconsistent
• imperious
• domineering
• willful
• dominant
• peremptory
• unjust
• haughty
• commanding
• autocratic
• overbearing
• tyrannical
• despotic
• totalitarian
• presumptuous
• capricious
• erratic
• demanding
• partisan
• unequal
• whimsical
• tyrannic
• tyrannous
• unscrupulous
• unprincipled
• mercurial
• inequitable
• imperative
• biased
• masterful
• unrealistic
• unethical
• lordly
• prejudiced
• autocratical
• unconscionable
• changeable

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• equitable
• disinterested
• impartial
• fair
• dispassionate
• equal
• reasonable
• balanced
• evenhanded
• objective
• rational
• just
• nonpartisan
• understanding
• moral
• unbiased
• unprejudiced
• honorable
• ethical
• principled
• irreproachable
• unimpeachable
• law-abiding

Examples of high-handed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Edward took a story that on paper could be very procedural and high-handed and made something that has this propulsive, edge-of-your-seat, wildly cinematic energy. —Brent Lang, Variety, 7 May 2024

This crude and insulting decision is starkly reminiscent of the high-handed Hollywood of the studio era. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024

Even if Beijing were to resume regular REE sales, alternative sources would remove Beijing’s temptation to high-handed policies. —Milton Ezrati, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2023

With his penchant for high-handed letter writing, Gittins escalated things to the inevitable level. —Max Olesker, Longreads, 13 July 2023