The Collaborative International Dictionary
High-strung \High"-strung`\, a. Strung to a high pitch; spirited; sensitive; as, a high-strung horse.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
a. nervous; anxious; excited or excitable.
WordNet
adj. being in a tense state [syn: edgy, highly strung, in suspense(p), jittery, jumpy, nervy, overstrung, restive, uptight]
Usage examples of "high-strung".
They were high-strung creatures, derived from Russian wolfhounds, and their three narrow heads, taken together, scarcely contained the brains to be found in one enhanced Doberman or neo-Alsatian.
May-December25 marriage to one of the few bona fide bombshell-type females in North American academia, the extremely tall and high-strung but also extremely pretty and gainly and teetotalling and classy Dr.
Carson was grateful for Colleen's company, even though to her, Colleen appeared high-strung and tense.
It was what come of buying paternalistic gadgets, high-strung, humanistic calculators, oversensitive, emotional machines.
Both were high-strung, prone to excessive tension and endurance, and they lived at concert pitch.
Coolly she moved in their van, a slim-legged, doe-eyed, soft-mouthed beauty, with the high-strung grace of careful breeding -- truly a Hedda among lady girls (though deficient of udder).
Bobby Burns gamboled along at his side, leaping high in the air in an effort to lick Brice's face, setting the night astir with a fanfare of joyous barking, imperiling Gavin's every step with his whisking body, and in short conducting himself as does the average high-strung collie whose master breaks into a run.
He wanted your money and control of the company, and reasoned correctly that you'd be nervous and high-strung enough to be an easy victim for anything that seemed the least bit supernormal.
Despite the fact that teaching Wila's brother, the high-strung Prince of Ustanzia, how to appear calm and relaxed while under the watchful eyes of the TV news cameras was Veronica's first major assignment as an image and media consultant, Wila trusted her longtime friend implicitly to get the job done.
Despite the fact that teaching Wila's brother, the high-strung Prince of Ustanzia, how to appear calm and relaxed while under the watchful eyes of the TV news cameras was Veronica's first major assignment as an image and media consultant, Wila trusted her long-time friend implicitly to get the job done.