towering
Americanadjective
-
very high or tall; lofty.
a towering oak.
- Synonyms:
- elevated
- Antonyms:
- short
-
surpassing others; very great.
a towering figure in American poetry.
-
rising to an extreme degree of violence or intensity.
a towering rage.
-
beyond the proper or usual limits; inordinate; excessive.
towering pride; towering ambitions.
adjective
-
very tall; lofty
-
outstanding, as in importance or stature
-
(prenominal) very intense
a towering rage
Synonym Usage
See high.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of towering
From a late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at tower 1, -ing 2
Explanation
Towering things are extremely tall, like the towering skyscrapers in New York City or the towering redwoods in northern California. Use the adjective towering to describe gigantic things that loom over everything (or everyone) else. There's the towering basketball player in your yoga class who is at least a foot taller than the other students, and the towering addition your neighbor is building on his house — the one that will block your view of the lake. The verb tower means "to rise high," from the Latin for "tower," turris.
Vocabulary lists containing towering
Living Large: Synonyms for "Big"
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Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then, as Japan pressed late on, it was Van Dijk who almost saw out the win with a succession of towering headers.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026
By summer, more visible construction will begin on the land west of the towering Art Deco building that long appeared in the title scene of the TV soap opera “General Hospital.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026
I asked Jack and Finn, my sporty 15- and 17-year-old sons, what they thought of the biblical figure towering over them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
Obama himself has poked fun at the Star Wars comparisons, appearing in a video with actor Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, with the museum towering over them.
From Barron's • Jun. 4, 2026
The White City was a labyrinth of lagoons and tended gardens, and spread throughout it all, towering buildings crammed from floor to ceiling with exhibits.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
