Word.ws English Dictionary

highborn

highborn adjective: of high social standing as a result of having been born a member of an upper-level social class.

Adjective

highborn (not comparable)

  1. (archaic) Of high social standing as a result of having been born a member of an upper-level social class.
    • I am too high-born to be propertied,
      To be a secondary at control.c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • It is not for Kings to drink wine, nor for Princes strong drink. It becomes not them who are highborn to be intemperate.1672, Thomas Watson, “The Righteous Man's Excellency”, in A plea for the Godly, Thomas Parkhurst, page 95
  2. (archaic) Born a member of an upper-level social class (although not necessarily retaining high social standing)
    • The selfish, base, covetous, father-in-law was not at all desirous to have a highborn beggar and the posterity of a highborn beggar to maintain.1848, Thomas Macaulay, chapter 23, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume 5
    • The references to the lady's long-standing affection for her loyal, high-born servant girl provide a succinct intimation that the lady herself is not a wholly repellent character.1996, Peter F. Ainsworth, "'The Letter Killeth': Law and Spirit in Marie De France's Lay of Le Fresne," French Studies, volume L, no. 1 (Jan.), page 5
  3. Of, pertaining to, or befitting people of high social standing.
    • In this illustrious throng, your lofty flood
      Swells high, fair confluence of all highborn Blood.1670, Richard Crashaw, "To the Queen's Majesty on Twelfth-day" in Steps to the temple; The delights of the Muses; and, Carmen Deo Nostro, Herringman (London)
    • I should have then
      Been trained in no highborn necessities
      Which I could meet not by my daily toil.1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Cenci, act 2, scene 2.2
  4. (figuratively) Of superior or premium quality; magnificent; expensive.
    • The tires are highborn Pirelli P Zeroes in appropriately majestic sizes.2007, “1999 Corvette FRC - All The King's Horses”, in Vette Web
    • Gearhart is worth taking a bit of time to ogle the highborn homes along the backroads near the beach.2007 July 18, “Oregon Coast Travel Tips: Complete Tour of Seaside”, in beachconnection.net

highborn meaning in Tamil

highborn in Tamil

பெருங்குடியிற் பிறந்த

Examples of highborn in a sentence

  • Was he not Rajah Hassim and was not the other a man of strong heart, of strong arm, of proud courage, a man great enough to protect highborn princes?1920, Joseph Conrad, chapter 4, in The Rescue:
  • He is a career rather than a conviction politician, but too highborn to be written off as a mere scaler of the greasy pole.2007 July 14, Lesley White, “Face of Tories' new deal—Gordon Brown is enjoying a honeymoon now”, in The Australian:
  • Dowling says that most performances of Chekhov plays have been filtered through translations into a British highborn sensibility.1996 June 17, Jayne M. Blanchard, “Cherry Jubilee: New artistic director Joe Dowling sees the comedy in Chekhov and intends to bring a...
  • If anyone in the highborn sport known as thoroughbred horse racing has swagger these days, it is Baffert.2002 May 28, Kevin B. Blackistone, “Baffert trained for the spotlight”, in The Dallas Morning News:

Antonyms of highborn

Forms of highborn

alternative formhigh-born

Origin of highborn

From high + born.

Questions about highborn

What does highborn mean?
Highborn means of high social standing as a result of having been born a member of an upper-level social class.
What is highborn in Tamil?
Highborn in Tamil is பெருங்குடியிற் பிறந்த. See Highborn meaning in Tamil.
How do you use highborn in a sentence?
Was he not Rajah Hassim and was not the other a man of strong heart, of strong arm, of proud courage, a man great enough to protect highborn princes?
What part of speech is highborn?
Highborn is an adjective.

Words near highborn in the dictionary

  1. highbinders
  2. highbishop
  3. highbishops
  4. highboard
  5. highboards
  6. highborn
  7. highboy
  8. highboys
  9. highbred
  10. Highbridge
  11. highbrow

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: highborn (page history and authors); highborn (Tamil Wiktionary) (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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Cite this entry: “highborn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/highborn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.