stiltedadj.
/ˈstɪltɪd/ 1.
a. Furnished with or having stilts (in quot. 1615, crutches); raised artificially as on stilts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > surgical supports > [adjective] > having crutches
stilted1615
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > majesty, glory, or grandeur > [adjective]
higheOE
drightlikeOE
highlyOE
drightfula1225
prouda1275
principalc1385
solemna1387
gentlec1390
high and mighty1400
imperial?c1400
royalc1405
kinglyc1425
sublimatec1425
lordfulc1429
lordlyc1440
assumpt1447
raiseda1450
haught1470
kinglikec1485
lordlike1488
triumphant1494
greatlya1500
princely?a1510
supereminent1531
princelike1532
lofta1547
lofty1548
regal1561
supernal1562
haughty1563
excelse1569
queen-like?1571
majestical1578
erecteda1586
augustious1591
ennobled1592
imperious1592
enthronized1593
august1594
high-born1598
sublimed1602
jovial1604
majestic1606
enthroned1609
starred1615
exalted1623
majestuous1633
reared1638
sublimary1655
majestative1656
kingrik1663
superb1663
grand1673
celse1708
stilted1744
canonized1790
queenly1791
apotheosized1794
princified1857
1615 R. Brathwait Loves Labyrinth 27 in Strappado Decrepit age, stilted for want of strength.
1744 E. Young Complaint: Night the Sixth 19 Where Dwarfs are often stilted, and betray A Littleness of soul by Worlds o'er-run, And Nations laid in blood.
b. (a) Supported on props or posts so as to be raised above the ground. (b) Architecture. Raised above the general level by a course of masonry beneath, as an arch, vault, or other structure.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > high position > [adjective] > elevated in position > on posts
stilted1820
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > other elements > [adjective] > stilted
stilted1820
1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 8 31 (note) The appearance of these stilted ricks..gives a sort of peculiarity to the landscape.
1835 R. Willis Remarks Archit. Middle Ages vii. 78 All the arches are pointed, except the central transverse rib.., which is semi-circular and stilted.
1883 I. L. Bird Golden Chersonese 168 It is a genuine Malay house on stilts... This stilted house is the barrack of eleven Malay constables.
1895 Jrnl. Royal Inst. Brit. Architects 14 Mar. 347 Corinthian capitals, supporting stilted pointed arches.
c. Of animals, esp. birds: having very long slender legs resembling stilts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [adjective] > of legs > having particular kind legs
spurless1819
stilted1869
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [adjective] > relating to limbs > having long or slender legs
long-legged1575
stilted1869
1869–73 T. R. Jones tr. A. E. Brehm Cassell's Bk. Birds II. 162 The Stilted Fly-catchers (Fluvicolæ)..a group of South American birds.
1896 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. V. 134 The stilted lizards.
2. figurative. Of (or in reference to) language or style (or, rarely, manner or deportment): artificially or affectedly lofty; unnaturally elevated; formally pompous. (The usual current sense.)
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adjective] > laboured or pedantic
tricked1549
pedantical1592
laboured1613
pedantic1631
laborious1657
stiff1664
long-nebbed1818
stiltified1820
stiltish1824
overwrought1839
uncolloquial1840
stilty1845
Ollendorffian1848
literose1859
stilted1874
Hisperic1904
1820 Ld. Byron To Murray 28 Sept. You are taken in by that false, stilted, trashy style.
1832 S. Warren Passages from Diary of Late Physician II. iii. 134 One might wither that fellow with a word or two, the stilted noodle!
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People (1878) x. 730 His [Pitt's] letters to his family..are stilted and unnatural in tone.
1909 H. R. Haggard Yellow God 55 It caused him to cease his stilted talk.
3. Of a plough: having a stilt or stilts: in parasynthetic formations, as double-stilted, single-stilted.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [adjective] > having stilt(s)
stilted1844
1844 W. H. Maxwell Scotl. (1855) xvi. 149 A single-stilted plough.
1911 E. Beveridge North Uist x. 315 Double-stilted ploughs.
Derivatives
Hence (in sense 2).
ˈstiltedly adv.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [adverb] > in a pompous or laboured manner
stiltedly1892
1892 ‘G. Travers’ Mona Maclean III. lix. 252 He began somewhat stiltedly.
ˈstiltedness n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [noun] > pomposity
stiltedness1828
pomposity1841
gas and gaiters1856
pompousness1870
1828 E. Bulwer-Lytton Pelham III. iii. 49 There is a stiffness and stiltedness in the dialogue and descriptions, perfectly ridiculous.
c1886 R. Kipling Lucia 49 What the later generation is pleased to call the stiltedness of the old-time verse.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1917; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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adj.1615