highborn family
- noun
- Literature
- She comes from a highborn family.
Examples
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He married into a highborn family to improve his social status.
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Many members of highborn families attended the gala.
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Despite her highborn family, she preferred a simple life away from society.
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The novel tells the story of a highborn family struggling to adapt to changing times.
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Despite her highborn family, she preferred a simple life away from society.
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He married into a highborn family to improve his social status.
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The novel tells the story of a highborn family struggling to adapt to changing times.
Synonyms
A family of rulers from the same line
Antonyms
How Noble
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'highborn' means 'of noble birth' and combined with 'family' yields 'a family of noble or aristocratic origin.' This follows a straightforward adjective + noun pattern with no idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand it.
Etymology
Highborn family comes from the image of being born 'high' in society, like a family that stood above others. That's why it means a family of 'noble' or 'aristocratic' origin.