as in excitable
easily excited by nature
a dog that tends to be high-strung is not the best pet for young children
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Recent Examples of high-strung
Others might be more high-strung, trying to live up to the older sibling's example or carve out their own identity.
—
Emily Edlynn, Parents, 8 Jan. 2025
Feeling at home is a strong theme as Buddy tries to build a relationship with his estranged father, a high-strung corporate worker on the naughty list portrayed by Michael Hayden, and make it in the human world.
—Caroline Howe, NBC News, 20 Dec. 2024
In the film, Scrooge is now Frank Cross (Bill Murray), a high-strung, selfish and arrogant TV executive living in Manhattan.
—Keith Langston, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
The show leaned into the meta-ness of the Lowes playing an eccentric father and high-strung son.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 11 Oct. 2024
Charlie, a high-strung, openly gay overthinker, and Nick, a cheerful, soft-hearted rugby player, one day are made to sit together in class.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
Others might be more high-strung, trying to live up to the older sibling's example or carve out their own identity.
—Emily Edlynn, Parents, 8 Jan. 2025
Her perception of things is a lot more high-strung than mine.
—Kate Hogan, Peoplemag, 28 May 2024
In order to support her siblings, Tanya fakes her way into a fancy fashion job, working under the high-strung Rose Lindsey, played by a scene-stealing Nicole Richie in a series of statement blazers.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 26 Mar. 2024
Emily Edlynn, Parents, 8 Jan. 2025
Feeling at home is a strong theme as Buddy tries to build a relationship with his estranged father, a high-strung corporate worker on the naughty list portrayed by Michael Hayden, and make it in the human world.
—Caroline Howe, NBC News, 20 Dec. 2024
In the film, Scrooge is now Frank Cross (Bill Murray), a high-strung, selfish and arrogant TV executive living in Manhattan.
—Keith Langston, People.com, 14 Dec. 2024
The show leaned into the meta-ness of the Lowes playing an eccentric father and high-strung son.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 11 Oct. 2024
Charlie, a high-strung, openly gay overthinker, and Nick, a cheerful, soft-hearted rugby player, one day are made to sit together in class.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes, 3 Oct. 2024
Others might be more high-strung, trying to live up to the older sibling's example or carve out their own identity.
—Emily Edlynn, Parents, 8 Jan. 2025
Her perception of things is a lot more high-strung than mine.
—Kate Hogan, Peoplemag, 28 May 2024
In order to support her siblings, Tanya fakes her way into a fancy fashion job, working under the high-strung Rose Lindsey, played by a scene-stealing Nicole Richie in a series of statement blazers.
—Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 26 Mar. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for high-strung
Adjective
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Its participants are easily excitable and just as effortlessly aggrieved, their collective nervous system tied somewhat intrinsically to social media notifications.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
17 Apr. 2025
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And if Django’s Billy Crash tapped into Goggins’s ability to thrive with brutal spite, Mannix plays more to Goggins’s excitable energy and capacity for being clever (even when his character seems to be anything but).—
Daniel Dockery,
Vulture,
6 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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At the same time, sellers might get nervous if deal activity slows down.—
James Nelson,
Forbes.com,
18 Apr. 2025
-
At times brutal and always volatile, the album functions as a sort of electro-shock therapy applied from the shoulders down, layering hard beats, ambient whorls, and nervous acid ticks to trigger a state of full-body rapture.—
Jazz Monroe,
Pitchfork,
18 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“High-strung.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/high-strung. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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