Adjective

(er)

high, tall, having great height or stature

* {{quote-book

, year=1862 , author=George Borrow , title=Wild Wales , chapter=98 citation , passage=On my left was a river, which came roaring down from a range of lofty mountains right before me to the south-east.}}

a lofty bed

idealistic, implying over-optimism

a lofty goal

* 2013 , Delme Parfitt in Wales Online'', ''Cardiff City 1 - 0 Swansea City: Steven Caulker heads Bluebirds to South Wales derby win (3 November 2013)

A goal from Steven Caulker, just after the hour mark, was enough to hand victory to Malky Mackay's men, with Swansea falling some way short of the lofty standards they have set previously at this level.

extremely proud; arrogant; haughty

* F. Harrison

that lofty pity with which prosperous folk are apt to remember their grandfathers

Adjective

(en adjective)

Arrogantly superior; showing contemptuous indifference; haughty.

* 2013 May 23, , " British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):

Buffeted by criticism of his policy on Europe, battered by rebellion in the ranks over his bill to legalize same-sex marriage and wounded by the perception that he is supercilious , contemptuous and out of touch with mainstream Conservatism, Mr. Cameron earlier this week took the highly unusual step of sending a mass e-mail (or, as he called it, “a personal note”) to his party’s grass-roots members.

*

Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.