high-strung
19
7.2
- adjective
- /haɪ strʌŋ/
- He is often high-strung, reacting strongly to even small problems.
- too high-strung
- very high-strung
- high-strung and nervous
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Watch on YouTubeHe, 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
87
5.0
Nervous and tense so you cannot relax
84
4.1
Feeling nervous, upset, and not calm
59
4.3
Feeling nervous and easily startled by sudden sounds
35
5.2
Feeling nervous and tense, easily upset
25
4.5
Feeling nervous and unable to stay still
13
4.1
Quick to become excited or nervous
3
6.5
Feeling worried and tense before a difficult event
1
7.4
Someone who is very nervous and easily upset
1
8.3
Easily excited and quickly become anxious
1
8.8
Gets nervous or upset in stressful situations
1
8.2
Feeling very nervous and tense because of worry
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.