- 1
Used about language, ideas, or plans that sound grand and impressive but have little real meaning or little chance of happening. When you call a speech high-flown, you are saying the speaker chose big, beautiful words and said almost nothing — the words fly high above the ground, far from real life.
used about language, ideas, or plans that sound grand and impressive but have little real meaning or little chance of happening用來形容聽起來很宏大、很厲害，但其實沒什麼實質意義或不太可能發生的語言、想法或計畫 when you call a speech high-flown當你說一場演講high-flown you are saying the speaker chose big, beautiful words and said almost nothing你是在說講者選了漂亮的大字卻幾乎什麼都沒說 the words fly high above the ground, far from real life這些話飛得高高在上，離現實生活很遠
It is always a criticism, though a polite and slightly literary one; you meet it in book reviews, newspaper columns, and careful writing rather than in daily chat. It goes most often with 'language', 'words', 'rhetoric', 'phrases', 'style', and also with 'ideas' or 'plans', where it means grand but unrealistic.
it is always a criticism它一定是批評 though a polite and slightly literary one不過是委婉、帶點文學氣的批評 you meet it in book reviews, newspaper columns, and careful writing你會在書評、報紙專欄和講究的寫作裡看到它 rather than in daily chat而不是在日常聊天裡 it goes most often with 'language', 'words', 'rhetoric', 'phrases', 'style'它最常搭配'language'、'words'、'rhetoric'、'phrases'、'style'這些字 and also with 'ideas' or 'plans'也會搭配'ideas'或'plans' where it means grand but unrealistic這時候意思是宏大但不切實際
A useful pair of neighbours: 'high-flown' points at emptiness dressed in fine clothes, while 'pompous' points at the speaker's self-importance and 'flowery' at too much decoration. So a wedding speech can be flowery and warm, but if you call it high-flown you are saying it was hollow.
a useful pair of neighbours有兩個相關的字值得比較 'high-flown' points at emptiness dressed in fine clothes'high-flown'指的是穿著漂亮外衣的空洞 while 'pompous' points at the speaker's self-importance而'pompous'指的是講者自以為了不起 and 'flowery' at too much decoration'flowery'則是指裝飾太多 so a wedding speech can be flowery and warm所以一場婚禮致詞可以是flowery又溫馨的 but if you call it high-flown you are saying it was hollow但如果你說它high-flown，就是在說它很空洞
組成high (高的) + flown (fly「飛」的過去分詞). 字面是「飛得高的」——飛得離地面太遠，也就離現實太遠，所以變成「空泛、不著邊際」。
同家族的字
- high-flyingsame high + fly image, but about real success
- flownthe past participle of fly, used unchanged here
原始詞典資料2 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
high-flownadj
- 1
pretentiously eloquent; highly figurative
- Red River Settlement is, to use a high-flown expression, an oasis in the desert, and may be likened to a spot upon the moon or a solitary ship upon the ocean. In plain English, it is an isolated settlement on the borders of one of the vast prairies of North America.
- 2
lofty, extravagant, refined
- It seems to me he makes troubles, by expecting every one else to be as quixotic as himself. He is not likely to find high-flown notions among ordinary business men!
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。