(as) high as a kite

(as) high as a kite

1. Literally, very high in terms of height or distance. The balloon flew as high as a kite when the little girl let it go.

2. slang Very intoxicated with drugs or alcohol. Do you remember last night at all? You were as high as a kite!

3. Very happy. I was as high as a kite when I found out that I'd gotten an A on my hardest exam.

See also: high, kite

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

*high as a kite

 and *high as the sky 

1. Lit. very high. (*Also: as ~.) The tree grew as high as a kite. Our pet bird got outside and flew up high as the sky.

2. Fig. drunk or drugged. (*Also: as ~.) Bill drank beer until he got as high as a kite. The thieves were high as the sky on drugs.

See also: high, kite

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

high as a kite

Intoxicated, as by alcohol, as in After three beers she's high as a kite. The adjective high has been used in the sense of "drunk" since the early 1600s; the addition of kite dates from the early 1900s. The phrase is now used of disorientation due to any drug.

See also: high, kite

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

high as a kite

INFORMAL

If someone is as high as a kite, they feel very excited, or they are strongly affected by alcohol or drugs. When I finally finished the course I felt as high as a kite. I felt so strange on the steroid injections. I was as high as a kite some of the time.

See also: high, kite

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

high as a kite

intoxicated with drugs or alcohol. informal

This expression is a play on high meaning ‘lofty’ and its informal sense ‘intoxicated’.

See also: high, kite

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

(as) high as a ˈkite

(informal) in an excited state, especially because of drugs, alcohol, etc: He was as high as a kite when they came to arrest him.

See also: high, kite

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017