Highfalutin is one of my favorite words. Its fun to say and it practically sounds exactly like its meaning.
high·fa·lu·tin [hahy-fuh-loot-n] or [hahy-fuh-loo-ting, -loot-n]
–adjective Informal.
pompous; bombastic; haughty; pretentious.
Its origin is unknown, but I love this note from dictionary.com:
H.L. Mencken, in his famous book The American Language, mentions
highfalutin as an example of the many native U.S. words coined during the
19th-century period of vigorous growth. Although highfalutin is characteristic
of American folk speech, it is not a true regionalism because it has always
occurred in all regions of the country, with its use and popularity spurred by
its appearance in print. The origin of highfalutin, like that of many folk
expressions, is obscure. It has been suggested that the second element,
-falutin, comes from the verb flute—hence high-fluting, a comical indictment of
people who think too highly of themselves.
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