Dictionary

high-strung en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, informal) Nervous; anxious; excited or excitable.
   • I probably would have gone with a spaniel rather than a setter. Especially since they listed the Irish Setter - arguably the highest-strung of the bunch. 2003 October 21, queenmother, “Recommended Dog Breeds”, in rec.pets.dogs.breeds (Usenet):
   • But it exasperated the higher strung nature of Colonel Feraud 1908, Joseph Conrad, The Duel, A Military Tale, page 62:
   • My mother, always described in our family as high-strung, was acting higher-strung than I ever remembered her. 2010, Paula Butturini, Keeping the Feast, One Couple's Story of Love, Food, and Healing, page 69:
   • "Why, you're shakin' all over!" "I suppose I wouldn't be a medium if I wasn't high strung." 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
2. Having lighter, thinner strings than usual, to produce higher notes.
   • a high-strung guitar

Forms

Translations (16)

ca molt nerviós (nervous, excitable) · pl nerwowy (nervous, excitable) · ru нервный (nervous, excitable) · mk живчан (nervous, excitable) · es tenso (nervous, excitable) · it teso (nervous, excitable) · ca tens (nervous, excitable) · fr à fleur de peau (nervous, excitable) · la praetrepidus (nervous, excitable) · ru взвинченный (nervous, excitable) · es muy nervioso (nervous, excitable) · fr grand nerveux (nervous, excitable) · pt tenso (nervous, excitable) · it facilmente eccitabile (nervous, excitable) · la anxius (nervous, excitable) · pt muito nervoso (nervous, excitable)