haughtiness

/ˈhɑɾinɪs/

/ˈhɔtinɛs/

Other forms: haughtinesses

If you are shy and have a hard time talking to others, people might wrongly interpret your quietness as haughtiness. Haughtiness is thinking a lot of yourself and not much of others.

The word haughtiness originally comes from the Old French adjective haut meaning "high" and later developed to mean having a high estimation of yourself. When you think of the word, imagine a Queen riding by on a horse, chin upturned, not paying any mind to her subjects below. Her Highness might as well be called Her Haughtiness up there.

Definitions of haughtiness

1. noun

   overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors
   synonyms: arrogance, hauteur, high-handedness, lordliness

   types:

   condescension, disdainfulness, superciliousness

   the trait of displaying arrogance by patronizing those considered inferior

   contemptuousness

   the manifestation of scorn and contempt

   hubris

   overbearing pride or presumption

   domineeringness, imperiousness, overbearingness

   the trait of being imperious and overbearing

   superiority

   displaying a sense of being better than others

   snobbery, snobbishness, snobbism

   the trait of condescending to those of lower social status

   clannishness, cliquishness, exclusiveness, exclusivity

   tendency to associate with only a select group

   type of:

   pride, superbia

   unreasonable and inordinate self-esteem (personified as one of the deadly sins)