Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective tall contrast with its synonyms?

The words high and lofty are common synonyms of tall. While all three words mean "above the average in height," tall applies to what grows or rises high by comparison with others of its kind and usually implies relative narrowness.

a tall thin man

When can high be used instead of tall?

Although the words high and tall have much in common, high implies marked extension upward and is applied chiefly to things which rise from a base or foundation or are placed at a conspicuous height above a lower level.

a high hill
a high ceiling

When would lofty be a good substitute for tall?

While in some cases nearly identical to tall, lofty suggests great or imposing altitude.

lofty mountain peaks

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tall The space has 11 purpose built, combinable sound stages stacked on two floors, each 18,000 square feet, all 45’ tall. Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 6 June 2025 Decker is described as 5 feet, 8 inches, tall and 190 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Sarah Lynch Baldwin, CBS News, 6 June 2025 The rocks are expected to be about 4 feet wide and 1 to 2 feet tall. Noah Lyons, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 June 2025 The backrest reclines to five different angles, and, set all the way back, the chaise can accommodate the full body of someone who’s up to six feet, four inches tall. Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 26 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for tall
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tall
Adjective
  • Perceptions aside, Europe has the highest gender pay parity in the world, with women earning, on average, 12.7% less per hour than men.
    Brooke Roberts-Islam, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025
  • Non-Maintainable Systems Lack of clean code structure, high entropy in the codebase, absence of modularity, dependency chaos, difficult debugging and lack of documentation can occur when applying vibe coding without a core engineering mindset.
    Naresh Prajapati, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
Adjective
  • But the fact that Schwartzman, in his first film, was given the difficult task of stealing laughs away from a comedy legend, and so often succeeds in doing so, gives him the slight edge.
    Shannon Carlin, Time, 30 May 2025
  • These connections are difficult to make from within, but consultants are trained to see across boundaries.
    Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025
Adjective
  • Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker combined to give this women’s basketball franchise an undeniable and towering allure, with three championship banners (2001, 2002, 2016) in the rafters.
    Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 14 May 2025
  • Better yet, head to the east side of the park to Two Medicine Valley, which is full of trails leading to ice-blue backcountry lakes and towering peaks.
    Graham Averill, Outside Online, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • Now, consumer spending has been getting a little bit more challenging.
    Jean E. Palmieri, Footwear News, 3 June 2025
  • Building wealth can be a challenging task, especially in challenging economic times.
    Anne-Lyse Ngatta, Forbes.com, 3 June 2025
Adjective
  • This is a time for doing the tough, often unglamorous job of making the city function for all New Yorkers.
    Scott Stringer, New York Daily News, 3 June 2025
  • When staring at twin suns like from much greater distances — many light-years away — astronomers have a much tougher time than young Skywalker in determining two stars from one.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 3 June 2025
Adjective
  • Sandoval has received some pay bumps, including a temporary $10,000-a-year bonus for Hawaii special education teachers designed to alleviate shortages in that and other hard-to-staff areas.
    Alia Wong, USA TODAY, 14 Feb. 2023
  • For extra reliability, choose a suitcase with a hard shell crafted from either polycarbonate or aluminum.
    Austa Somvichian-Clausen, Travel + Leisure, 13 Feb. 2023
Adjective
  • Everything points to the fact that Karolína’s exceptional talent has caught the attention of the formidable and much admired choirmaster.
    Leo Barraclough, Variety, 3 June 2025
  • Sinha’s strategic interventions have substantially scaled up businesses, powering a formidable sales pipeline by assisting the company in landing enterprise-level engagements.
    Daniel Fusch, USA Today, 3 June 2025
Adjective
  • The Council for Higher Education Accreditation ensures accrediting agencies uphold rigorous standards.
    Hanna Park, CNN Money, 5 June 2025
  • These days, most people delivering your forecasts are scientists with rigorous training in calculus, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, atmospheric physics and the other meteorological coursework.
    Marshall Shepherd, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Tall.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tall. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.

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