high-minded

adj

"high-minded" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“high-minded” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Given to idealism.

Corpus desk

Index EN-high-minded · high-minded · English

high-minded · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "H" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for high-minded
PropertyValue
Headwordhigh-minded
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “high-minded” in English

high-mindedfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

high-minded is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for high-minded in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is high-minded, spelled H-I-G-H---M-I-N-D-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Given to idealism.
  2. 2
    Refined, cultured, particularly civilized.
  3. 3
    Proud or arrogant.
  4. 4
    Magnanimous.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how high-minded appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Walter was the ideal—generous, high-minded, clear in perception; but sensitive, even weak, in action; or, rather, too apt to imagine a world full of lofty aims and noble impulses, and then fancying that was the world in which he had to live.
  2. After the pause for much more self-deprecating laughter and with everyone listening, Salmond rounded off his story on a high-minded note. The hospital near that village is also powered by the same hydro project, he told them.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "high-minded"?
"high-minded" is spelled H-I-G-H---M-I-N-D-E-D.
What does "high-minded" mean?
As an adjective, "high-minded" means: Given to idealism.
What language does "high-minded" come from?
"high-minded" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list