high-toned
adj1
Having a pretentious, high-class attitude
- A robber is more high-toned than what a pirate is—as a general thing. In most countries they’re awful high up in the nobility—dukes and such.1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXXV, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 272:
- Maybe real estate developers with friends on the City Council have wanted to convert Hennepin Avenue, where the Locker Room and the bookstores are located, into a higher-toned entertainment district.1979 December 29, Rick Hillegas, “Minneapolis Raid Nets 125 Men”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 23, page 3:
1 more example
- New American Library took an atypically high-toned approach to illustrating the Signet edition of William's Streetcar Named Desire, using a painting by acclaimed social realist Thomas Hart Benton.2001, Susan Stryker, Queer Pulp, page 14: