Word.ws English Dictionary

High German

High German noun: a native or inhabitant of the southern highlands of Germany; a High German speaker.

Noun

High German (countable and uncountable, plural High Germans)

  1. (countable) A native or inhabitant of the southern highlands of Germany; a High German speaker.
  2. Any of a group of West Germanic languages or dialects spoken in the southern highlands of Germany.
  3. The standard variety of High German as spoken and written throughout the German language area.
    • There is a widespread reluctance to speak High German in German-speaking Switzerland, and many Swiss prefer to speak even bad French or English to people who do not speak Swiss dialect.1989, Alfred Wyler, Dialect and High German in German-speaking Switzerland, page 15
    • We, the students, also were supposed to speak High German, but, like our teachers, we did so with a fairly strong Swabian accent.2010, Dankwart Koehler, In Different Worlds: From POW to PhD, page 49
    Synonyms:
    High Dutch, Standard High German, SHG, Standard German

Adjective

High German (not comparable)

  1. From or pertaining to the southern region of Germany; speaking High German.
    • I used to harrangue the mob, in broken English, under pretence of being an High German doctor.1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
  2. Written or spoken in High German; pertaining to High German.
    • Yiddish is a High German language [...]1983, Philip Baldi, An Introduction to the Indo-European Languages, page 128

High German meaning in Bengali and Malay

High German in Bengali

any of a group of West Germanic languages
উচ্চ আলমানী uccô almanī
Standard High German
প্রমিত উচ্চ আলমানী prômitô uccô almanī

High German in Malay

Standard High German
bahasa Jerman Halus, bahasa Jerman Selatan

Synonyms of High German

Forms of High German

pluralHigh Germans
alternative formHigh-German

Origin of High German

Calque of German Hochdeutsch.

Questions about High German

What does High German mean?
High German means a native or inhabitant of the southern highlands of Germany; a High German speaker.
What is High German in Bengali?
High German in Bengali is উচ্চ আলমানী (uccô almanī), প্রমিত উচ্চ আলমানী (prômitô uccô almanī). See High German meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is High German?
High German can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of High German?
The plural of High German is High Germans.

Words near High German in the dictionary

  1. high frequency gravitational waves
  2. high frontier
  3. high fructose corn syrup
  4. high fructose corn syrups
  5. high functioning
  6. High German
  7. High Germans
  8. High Germany
  9. high grinding
  10. high grindings
  11. high ground

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: High German (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-High German.wav.

Cite this entry: “High German.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/high_german. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.