Standard Lemma guide

higher-up

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈhaɪəɹ ˌʌp/
  • /ˌhaɪəɹ ˈʌp/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Somebody with greater authority, seniority, rank, status or position; one who outranks.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • It's a great plan, but we'll have to get approval from the higher-ups to proceed.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

one of greater rank or station or quality

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: superior, superordinate

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: leader

Narrower terms: better, god, supervisor

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.