HIGHHANDEDLY Synonyms: 184 Similar and Opposite Words

high-handed

adjective

ˈhī-ˈhan-dəd

Definition of high-handed

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

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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Recent Examples of high-handed 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 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for high-handed

Adjective

As such, there is a tendency among such countries to view Europeans as arrogant and self-serving, perhaps even neo-colonialist, with a desire to at least maintain, or maybe even strengthen, their position of power.

— Simon Chadwick, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
James, Lord Dalhousie, the arrogant and ruthless Governor General of British India, who had long coveted the riches of Punjab and the Koh-i-Noor, was triumphant.

— Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of arrogant

Adjective

Its attempts to do so, most notably by interweaving elements of 1939’s The Wizard of Oz — including a CGI lion voiced by Colman Domingo — are heavy-handed acts of fan service that feel arbitrary.

— Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Aug. 2026
Indeed, the representatives of that Government assert that the people of Hawaii are unfit for popular government and frankly avow that they can be best ruled by arbitrary or despotic power.

— Britannica Editors, Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Aug. 2026