ˈhigh-ˌhanded, a.
Acting or done with a high hand (see high a. 17 b), or in an overbearing or arbitrary manner.
| 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 49 For this high-handed offence, their foresaid king is still plagued in hell. 1743 in Doran ‘Mann’ & Manners (1876) I. vi. 164 Not..any the worse for their high-handed proceedings. 1788 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) II. 382 Some act of high-handed authority. 1870 Freeman Norm. Conq. (ed. 2) II. App. 548 An act of high-handed violence. |
Hence high-ˈhandedness, high-handed, overbearing, or arbitrary action or behaviour.
| 1874 Mahaffy Soc. Life Greece v. 144 Thus he censures high-handedness even in the gods. 1891 Leeds Mercury 13 Aug. 4/5 Against wrong or highhandedness Lowell was ready to strike whenever or wherever he saw it. |