tall
Noun pluraltalls
Pluraltalls
- 1Of greater than average height from bottom to top; used of people, and of buildings, trees, and other things whose height is great, especially relative to their width.
The cathedral's tall spire could be seen from across the valley.
Redwoods are among the tallest living things on Earth.
UsageMost often tall for people and narrow things (a tall man, a tall tree), high for mountains and things far above the ground.
Note
This sense describes things that rise from the ground: trees, towers, spires, even whole forests, as when Tim Flannery calls the Bornean rainforests "the tallest on Earth." Said of a person, it compares that height with the usual one.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Tim Flannery calls the Bornean rainforests "the tallest on Earth." en.wiktionary.org
- 2Difficult to believe; exaggerated or far-fetched, as a tall story or a tall tale.
The fisherman's tall tale had the trout weighing fifty pounds.
Reporters dismissed the politician's tall claims about the city's finances.
UsageMostly in tall tale, tall story and tall talk.
Similarexaggerated, far-fetched, implausible, unbelievable
Oppositeplausible, believable, credible
Note
Exaggeration measured as height: an unlikely story stands taller than the truth. The Cornhill Magazine of 1870 plays the image straight back: "That's tall talk." "Not an inch taller than the truth."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The cited Cornhill Magazine volume was published in 1870. archive.org
- The quoted exchange is exact; it occurs between Ben Bolt and Henry Little in Charles Reade's Put Yourself in His Place. gutenberg.org
- 3A serving size for a drink, especially at Starbucks, holding twelve ounces.
He ordered a tall, not the larger grande.
The barista handed her a tall in a paper cup.
Less common meanings
- 4Of a coffee-shop drink, the size smaller than grande and larger than short, usually twelve US fluid ounces (about 355 milliliters).
He ordered a tall cappuccino since the grande was too much caffeine.
He usually orders a grande, but today he went with a tall iced tea.
Note
American coffee sizing turns the word upside down. On these menus it names a cup smaller than grande, so the tall drink is not the big one. At Starbucks it holds twelve ounces, with the short below it, and the noun for the serving names the same cup. Other chains may pour different amounts, so the word marks a place on a menu rather than a fixed volume.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- A Starbucks tall is smaller than grande and larger than short. starbucks.com.sg
- At Starbucks, tall holds twelve fluid ounces, with short below it. starbucks.com.sg
- 5A clothing size designed to fit people whose height is greater than average.
This jacket comes in a tall for customers with longer torsos.
She ordered the tall because the standard length never reached her wrists.
Oppositepetite
- 6A person or thing that has a height greater than the average.
Among the recruits, the talls were assigned to the back row.
She felt like the only tall in a family of short people.
Note
The adjective turned into a countable noun, plural talls, which belongs to specialist talk more than conversation. Plant breeders sorted hybrids into talls and dwarfs in George Francis Atkinson's Botany for High Schools (1910). Reporting on the Fremantle Dockers speaks of a pair of key talls.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- George Francis Atkinson wrote Botany for High Schools. biodiversitylibrary.org
- Reporting on the Fremantle Dockers uses the phrase 'a pair of key talls'. thewest.com.au
- 7Fine and proper; admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise.
Note
Praise may be the bridge to the modern meaning. In Middle English the word ran from excellent and good to great, large and big, so admiration and size already sat side by side.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Middle English tall included both approving meanings and meanings expressing size. en.wiktionary.org
- 8Bold and brave; courageous and valiant in the face of danger.
Note
Courage belonged to the word before height did. Middle English tall could mean valiant and bold, and even lively in speech. In old texts, then, a tall warrior is a brave one, not necessarily a big one.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The courage sense preceded the height senses. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English tall could mean valiant, bold, and lively in speech. en.wiktionary.org
- In historical usage, tall applied to a warrior could describe courage without necessarily describing size. en.wiktionary.org
- 9Seemly and fitting; becoming, comely, and pleasant to look upon.
Note
Looks and propriety were one idea here. Middle English tall covered seemly, becoming, handsome and good-looking, so a tall young man was a fine-looking one, whatever his height. Because the sense is obsolete, old phrases can mislead: "tall and comely" now reads as two compliments, one about stature, where it could once be a single compliment said twice.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Middle English tall expressed both propriety and good looks. en.wiktionary.org
- In the appearance sense, calling a young man tall could describe his looks without specifying his height. en.wiktionary.org
- 10Obedient and obsequious; eager to serve and to please.
Note
The oldest layer of the word surfaces here. Proto-Germanic *talaz meant "submissive, pliable, obedient," and Old English *tæl, "swift, ready," kept the idea of readiness.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Tall had a historical meaning obedient or obsequious. en.wikisource.org
- The reconstructed Proto-Germanic ancestor *talaz had meanings involving pliability and obedience. en.wiktionary.org
- The etymology traces tall through reconstructed Old English *tæl, glossed swift or ready. en.wiktionary.org
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
The Middle English adjective tall, tal meant "seemly, handsome, good, bold, large." It came from Old English *tæl, ġetæl, meaning "ready, swift, having mastery of," which goes back to Proto-Germanic *talaz ("submissive, pliable, obedient") and Proto-Indo-European *dol-, *del- ("to reckon, aim, calculate"). Relatives include Scots tal ("high, tall"), Old Frisian tel ("swift") and Gothic untals ("disobedient"). The shift in meaning is striking. Some have guessed that the "high of stature" sense is a separate borrowing from Welsh tal, but the Welsh word itself was borrowed from English.