high-strung
- adjective
- /haɪ strʌŋ/
- He is often high-strung, reacting strongly to even small problems.
- too high-strung
- very high-strung
- high-strung and nervous
He, he was very type A personality, very high stress, high strung.
- He, he was very type A personality, very high stress, high strung.
- So if I'm looking a little bit high strung, that's why I've got this like this eucalyptus Paddy thing.
Examples
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Okay, so she's a little high strung.
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Man, you are really high-strung.
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My mother is a little high strung.
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My mother was high-strung and had trouble staying in the house for long.
Fiction book (2002) -
It's all right, we're just a little high-strung.
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The pressures create a high-strung work environment.
Academic text (1995) -
Individually, these men were often high-strung and held different opinions.
Academic text (1997) -
Beckmann seems a little high strung for you.
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I'm not nervous, just a little high-strung, that's all.
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Streets filled with high-strung businessmen, sullen teenagers, and working-class couples pulse with energy.
Blog text (19)
Synonyms
Nervous and tense so you cannot relax
Feeling nervous and easily startled by sudden sounds
Feeling nervous, upset, and not calm
Feeling nervous and tense, easily upset
Feeling nervous and unable to stay still
Quick to become excited or nervous
Someone who is very nervous and easily upset
Feeling worried and tense before a difficult event
Feeling very nervous and tense because of worry
Easily excited and quickly become anxious
Gets nervous or upset in stressful situations
Antonyms
How Nervous
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
High-strung comes from the image of a string pulled very tight; the parts high and strung suggest being 'tight' or 'tense'. So, imagine a guitar or violin string pulled high and ready to vibrate, and a high-strung person is easily tense or nervous.