high-strung
nervous, excitable
TRANSLATION
high-strung = nervös, reizbar --- GOOGLE INDEX high-strung: approximately 350,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Prozac was also a source of humour for much of the 1990s, as HIGH-STRUNG American workers turned to the drug seeking relief.
(BBC - Business News)
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"If I spread myself too thin, then I'm not a good actor, I'm not a good mother, and I'm just really HIGH-STRUNG - and everybody hates me."
- Hollywood actress Katherine Heigl
(BBC - Business News)
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"If I spread myself too thin, then I'm not a good actor, I'm not a good mother, and I'm just really HIGH-STRUNG - and everybody hates me."
- Hollywood actress Katherine Heigl
Did you
know?
high-strung (also highly-strung)
adjective phrase
- tending to be very nervous and easily excited
(American Heritage Dictionary)
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There are two potential origins for the adjective high-strung. One suggestion is that it refers to the tuning of stringed instruments. The idea is that a string that is tuned too high will eventually snap. The other theory refers to an archery bow that has been tightened so much that it becomes too tense.
High-strung can be applied to animals as well as humans. Certain breeds of dogs are known to be high-strung, such as terriers, poodles and chihuahuas. Some types of cats tend to be nervous as well. High-strung is also used to describe horses who are nervous and jittery, especially race horses who become "jumpy" before the start of a race.
As for humans, most of us know someone we would call high-strung. A good example in the film world is Woody Allen, who typically assumes the role of the "urban neurotic" in his films. In Annie Hall, he plays a high-strung New York comedian who says, "When I was thrown out of college, my mother, who was an emotionally high-strung woman, locked herself in the bathroom and took an overdose of Mah-Jongg tiles."
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SYNONYMS
nervous, edgy, excitable, restive, skittish, tense
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I wonder if there are more high-strung people in big cities than in small towns."
adjective phrase
- tending to be very nervous and easily excited
(American Heritage Dictionary)
---
There are two potential origins for the adjective high-strung. One suggestion is that it refers to the tuning of stringed instruments. The idea is that a string that is tuned too high will eventually snap. The other theory refers to an archery bow that has been tightened so much that it becomes too tense.
High-strung can be applied to animals as well as humans. Certain breeds of dogs are known to be high-strung, such as terriers, poodles and chihuahuas. Some types of cats tend to be nervous as well. High-strung is also used to describe horses who are nervous and jittery, especially race horses who become "jumpy" before the start of a race.
As for humans, most of us know someone we would call high-strung. A good example in the film world is Woody Allen, who typically assumes the role of the "urban neurotic" in his films. In Annie Hall, he plays a high-strung New York comedian who says, "When I was thrown out of college, my mother, who was an emotionally high-strung woman, locked herself in the bathroom and took an overdose of Mah-Jongg tiles."
---
SYNONYMS
nervous, edgy, excitable, restive, skittish, tense
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"I wonder if there are more high-strung people in big cities than in small towns."
