Meaning & use
tall
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Having more height than most others of its kind, especially a person, tree or building.
Grammar: Comparative taller, superlative tallest; used before a noun or after be.
Patterns
- tall for something
- tall enough to do something
She is tall for her age.
A tall oak shaded the yard.
The tallest building in town has forty floors.
adjectiveafter a verb
Used after a measurement to give how high something is.
Grammar: Follows a number: six feet tall; not a measure of width.
Patterns
- measurement tall
The fence is six feet tall.
How tall is your brother?
The statue stands nearly thirty meters tall.
adjectivebefore a nouninformal
Hard to believe, especially of a story or claim.
Grammar: Appears in the fixed phrases tall tale and tall story.
Patterns
- tall tale
- tall story
Grandpa told a tall tale about catching a fish as big as a boat.
That sounds like a tall story to me.
The salesman's tall claims did not convince us.
adjectivebefore a nouninformal
Very hard or demanding, as in a tall order.
Grammar: Appears in tall order.
Patterns
- a tall order
Finishing the report by noon is a tall order.
Winning against the champions is a tall order.
Cleaning the whole house in an hour is a tall order.
Word forms
| comparative | taller |
|---|---|
| superlative | tallest |
Common combinations
- tall tale
- Pirate tall tales amused the kids.
- tall order
- Raising that much money in a week is a tall order.
- stand tall
- Stand tall and speak clearly.
- tall and slim
- The model was tall and slim.
- six feet tall
- He is six feet tall.
- walk tall
- After the win, she could walk tall.
Synonyms and how they differ
- high
- High is used for things like mountains and ceilings, while tall is used for people, trees and slim buildings.
- lofty
- Lofty is formal and suggests impressive height, or grand ideas.
- towering
- Towering suggests great height that overshadows other things.
- lanky
- Lanky means tall and thin in an awkward way, usually of a person.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: tall or high? tall or long?
tall vs high
A mountain is high, not tall; a person is tall, not high, because high for a person means something else entirely.
tall vs long
Long measures length from end to end; tall measures upward height.
Practice
The new tower is 120 meters ___.
Choose one answer.
Tall after a measurement gives vertical height. Long and wide describe different dimensions, and short would not give a number this way.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tall”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.