high-strung

adjective

being in a tense state

• Syn:

↑edgy, ↑highly strung, ↑jittery, ↑jumpy, ↑nervy, ↑overstrung, ↑restive, ↑uptight

• Similar to: ↑tense

• Derivationally related forms: ↑restiveness (for: ↑restive), ↑jumpiness (for: ↑jumpy), ↑jitteriness (for: ↑jittery), ↑edge (for: ↑edgy), ↑edginess (for: ↑edgy)

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\\ˈ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷\ adjective

1. : being in a state of tense or extreme sensibility : highly sensitive or nervous

a high-strung person

dogs … are high-strung creatures — Joyce Cary

2. of an archery bow : having a distance greater than a fistmele between handle and bowstring

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/huy"strung"/, adj.

at great tension; highly excitable or nervous; edgy: high-strung nerves; a high-strung person.

[1740-50]

Syn. tense, temperamental; jumpy, edgy, jittery, uptight.

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highˈ-strung adjective (esp N American)

Highly-strung

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Main Entry: ↑high

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high-strung «HY STRUHNG», adjective.

1. easily excited; very sensitive; very nervous: »All the members of her family were high-strung artists.

2. strung to a high tension or pitch: »a high-strung guitar.

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adj. nervous and easily upset

a high-strung racing thoroughbred

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/ˈhaıˈstrʌŋ/ adj [more \high-strung; most \high-strung]

chiefly US : very nervous or easily upset

stories of high-strung performers who place unreasonable demands on the people who work with them

Dogs of this breed are often high-strung. [=(chiefly Brit) highly strung]

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ˌhigh-ˈstrung [high-strung] (NAmE) (BrE ˌhighly ˈstrung) adjective

(of a person or an animal) nervous and easily upset

Look at other dictionaries:

High-strung — a. Strung to a high pitch; spirited; sensitive; as, a high strung horse. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
High Strung — Données clés Titre original High Strung Réalisation Roger Nygard Scénario Robert Kuhn Steve Oedekerk Acteurs principaux Steve Oedekerk Thomas F. Wilson Fred Willard Jim Carrey … Wikipédia en Français
high-strung — also high strung, 1848 in the figurative sense, from HIGH (Cf. high) (adj.) + STRUNG (Cf. strung). Originally a musical term, with reference to stringed instruments, where it is attested from 1748 … Etymology dictionary
high-strung — adjective AMERICAN a high strung person becomes angry or emotional very quickly … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
high-strung — index hot blooded, sensitive (easily affected) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 … Law dictionary
high-strung — strəŋ adj having an extremely nervous or sensitive temperament … Medical dictionary
high-strung — high′ strung′ adj. highly sensitive or nervous in temperament … From formal English to slang
high-strung — [adj] nervous all shook up*, choked*, easily upset, edgy, excitable, fidgety, hyper*, impatient, irascible, irritable, jittery, jumpy, nervy, neurotic, on pins and needles*, on ragged edge, restless, sensitive, spooked*, stressed, taut,… … New thesaurus
high-strung — [hī′struŋ′] adj. [from the tuning of stringed instruments] highly sensitive or nervous and tense … English World dictionary
High Strung — Infobox Film name=High Strung caption = The movie cover for High Strung . imdb id=0102032 writer=Robert Kuhn Steve Oedekerk starring=Steve Oedekerk Thomas F. Wilson Fred Willard Jim Carrey director=Roger Nygard music=Vladimir Horunzhy Thomas… … Wikipedia

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high-strung

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