HIGH-HANDED 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

Each of these decisions laid the groundwork for the war on Iran today, one that started without a clear strategy on the arrogant expectation of a quick victory.

— Alexander Langlois, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Aug. 2026
The data center industry is only one face of an arrogant oligarchy that people believe now runs Congress, the courts, the White House, state legislatures and local governments.

— Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of arrogant

Adjective

While some of the color contrasts do articulate planar shifts, such as the candy-stripe lips (red for upper, pink for lower), many of the touches are arbitrary splotches that neither bolster a shape nor set another off.

— Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 31 Aug. 2026
The choices of what to put in each episode — and when to cut from one timeline to another — have sometimes felt arbitrary, and have often disrupted the story’s overall flow.

— Noel Murray, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026