tall
[adjective]
Synonyms:
- high, big, elevated, giant, lanky, lofty, soaring, towering
- tall story: implausible, absurd, cock-and-bull (informal), exaggerated, far-fetched, incredible, preposterous, unbelievable
- tall order: difficult, demanding, hard, unreasonable, well-nigh impossible

---

Antonyms: short
Contrasted words: abbreviated, truncated, low
Related Idioms: higher than a cat's back
Related Words: high-reaching, sky-high, skyscraping

---

English Thesaurus: high, tall, majestic, soaring, towering, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

tall S2 W2 /tɔːl $ tɒːl/ adjective (comparative taller, superlative tallest)
[Language: Old English; Origin: getæl 'quick, ready']

1. a person, building, tree etc that is tall is a greater height than normal:
He was young and tall.
a house surrounded by tall trees
This bush grows tall very quickly.

2. you use ‘tall’ to say or ask what the height of something or someone is
6ft/2m/12 inches etc tall
He’s only 5 feet tall.
How tall is that building?
She’s a little taller than her sister.

3. American English a tall drink contains a small amount of alcohol mixed with a large amount of a non-alcoholic drink

4. a tall order informal a request or piece of work that is almost impossible:
Finding a replacement is going to be a tall order.

5. tall story/tale a story that is so unlikely that it is difficult to believe
—tallness noun [uncountable]
⇒ stand tall at stand¹(39), ⇒ walk tall at walk¹(10)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

tall
adj.
VERBS be, look, seem | become, get, grow
ADV. exceptionally, extremely, unusually, very | fairly, quite, rather She is quite tall for her age.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tall
adjective
BAD: I prefer rooms with tall ceilings.
GOOD: I prefer rooms with high ceilings.

Usage Note:
See note at HIGH (high)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

high measuring a long distance from the bottom to the top – used about mountains, walls, and buildings:
the highest mountain in the world
The castle was surrounded by high walls.
a high cliff
The council told the architects the tower was too high.
tall high – used about people, trees, plants, and buildings. Tall is used especially about things that are high and narrow:
tall marble columns
A cat was hiding in the tall grass.
a tall modern building
majestic especially written very impressive because of being very big and tall – used about mountains, buildings, trees, and animals:
the majestic mountains of the Himalayas
The abbey is noted for its majestic arches, fine doorways and elegant windows.
The cathedral looked majestic in the evening light.
soaring [only before noun] especially written used about a building or mountain that looks extremely tall and impressive:
a soaring skyscraper
the soaring towers of the palace
towering [only before noun] especially written extremely high, in a way that seems impressive but also often rather frightening:
The sky was shut out by the towering walls of the prison.
towering trees
lofty [usually before noun] literary very high and impressive – used in literature:
the lofty peaks in the far distance
high-rise [usually before noun] a high-rise building is a tall modern building with a lot of floors containing apartments or offices:
a high-rise apartment block
He works in a high-rise office in New York.
tall person/tree/plant/building/tower/statue
high-pitched higher than most sounds or voices:
He has a rather high-pitched voice.
Bats make high-pitched squeaks.
the high-pitched whine of a dentist's drill
shrill high and unpleasant:
Her voice became more shrill.
The bird has rather a shrill cry.
piercing extremely high and loud, in a way that is unpleasant:
a piercing scream
Suddenly I heard a piercing whistle.
squeaky making very high noises that are not loud:
a squeaky gate
squeaky floorboards
a squeaky little voice

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲