(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.
*high as a kite
and *high as the sky1. 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.
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.
high as a kite
INFORMALIf 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.
high as a kite
intoxicated with drugs or alcohol. informalThis expression is a play on high meaning ‘lofty’ and its informal sense ‘intoxicated’.