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
• assumptive
• pompous
• dominant
• presumptuous
• imperious
• masterful
• uppish
• smug
• huffy
• authoritarian
• peremptory
• chesty
• high-hat
• patronizing
• dominating
• overweening
• self-assertive
• lordly
• presuming
• highfalutin
• condescending
• proud
• huffish
• impudent
• stiff-necked
• bossy
• lofty
• self-asserting
• toplofty
• snobbish
• magisterial
• disdainful
• pontifical
• snooty
• boastful
• snobby
• saucy
• bombastic
• cocky
• vainglorious
• conceited
• egocentric
• impertinent
• hubristic
• vain
• swaggering
• narcissistic
• egotistic
• blustery
• egoistic
• complacent
• uninhibited
• blusterous
• pontificating
• self-centered
• prideful
• stuck-up
• immodest
• 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
• 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
• authoritarian
• unfair
• unreasonable
• dictatorial
• inconsistent
• imperious
• willful
• domineering
• dominant
• peremptory
• unjust
• haughty
• commanding
• autocratic
• overbearing
• totalitarian
• tyrannical
• despotic
• presumptuous
• capricious
• erratic
• partisan
• demanding
• unequal
• whimsical
• unscrupulous
• inequitable
• mercurial
• unprincipled
• imperative
• biased
• masterful
• unrealistic
• unethical
• tyrannous
• unconscionable
• changeable
• lordly
• prejudiced

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of high-handed

Her work is very philosophical without feeling high-handed. — Hannah Jocelyn, New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2026

But his high-handed, arbitrary seizure of power may have permanently scarred the system of careful checks and balances meant to keep government at all levels accountable to the people. — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Aug. 2025

His populist policies won strong support among poorer voters, particularly in the rural north and northeast, but his popularity and sometimes high-handed style created deep fractures between his base and the country’s urban elites, royalists and the military. — ABC News, 3 June 2026