highfalutin

• hifalutin, hifalutin', hifalutin’, hifaluting
• highfalutin', highfalutin’, highfaluting
• high-falutin, high-falutin', high-falutin’, high-faluting
• high falutin, high falutin', high falutin’, high faluting

Possible alteration of high-fluting. Another speculation connects the term with high-flighting/-flying.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌhaɪ.fəˈlu.tɨn/, /ˈhaɪ.fəˌlu.tɨn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

highfalutin (comparative more highfalutin, superlative most highfalutin)

1. (US, informal) Self-important, pompous; arrogant or egotistical.

   Synonyms: bombast, hoity-toity, pretentious

   It's only a matter of time before some highfalutin developer builds a huge hotel and ruins the scenery.

   That one Cajun that moved to Austin is too highfalutin to come back to Livingston Parish. He's over there with that mean bread lady!

   His speech was very highfalutin.

highfalutin (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Pompous speech or writing.
   • 1865, Benn Pitman, The Assassination of President Lincoln: And the Trial of the Conspirators, page 43:

     Don't write so much highfalutin next time.

• highfalutin at OneLook Dictionary Search
• “highfalutin”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.