high-tech

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Using the newest and most advanced technology, especially electronic or computer systems.

   Grammar: Often before a noun: a high-tech factory; also after a verb: the hospital is very high-tech.

   Patterns

   • a high-tech something
   • very high-tech

   The company opened a high-tech factory that runs mostly on robots.

   Their kitchen is so high-tech that I could not work the oven.

   She works in a high-tech startup building medical devices.

2. 2noununcountableinformal

   Advanced technology, or the industries that develop and sell it.

   Grammar: Often as high tech without a hyphen: he works in high tech.

   Patterns

   • work in high tech

   Many graduates go straight into high tech.

   The region has built its economy on high tech.

Word forms

Common combinations

high-tech industry

The high-tech industry employs thousands in the valley.

high-tech equipment

The clinic invested in high-tech equipment.

high-tech gadget

He loves any high-tech gadget with a screen.

high-tech company

A high-tech company hired her last spring.

Synonyms and how they differ

advanced

Advanced is a general word for anything ahead of the rest, while high-tech specifically means technology.

cutting-edge

Cutting-edge suggests it is the very newest, which goes a step further than high-tech.

state-of-the-art

State-of-the-art stresses the best currently available, often in adverts.

sophisticated

Sophisticated stresses complexity, not necessarily modern technology.

Opposites

Word family

technology noun

scientific knowledge applied to practical use

technological adjective

relating to technology

low-tech adjective

using simple or traditional methods

tech noun

informal short form of technology

Commonly confused: high-tech or hi-fi?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “high-tech”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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