Functioning or operating at a high level.
Used in a Sentence
high-functioning
Definitions, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for high-functioning.
Editorial note
Aside: there's probably a tasteless joke in there somewhere about socially-insensitive recruiting practices which target high-functioning autistic people.
Examples15
Definitions3
Parts of speech1
Quick take
Functioning or operating at a high level.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of high-functioning gathered in one view.
(psychology) Of a person with autism, exhibiting relatively high cognitive function.
(psychology) Of a person with a developmental or intellectual disability or mental illness, able to function in society; not greatly affected by a disability or illness.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for high-functioning.
adjective
Functioning or operating at a high level.
adjective
(psychology) Of a person with autism, exhibiting relatively high cognitive function.
adjective
(psychology) Of a person with a developmental or intellectual disability or mental illness, able to function in society; not greatly affected by a disability or illness.
Example sentences
Aside: there's probably a tasteless joke in there somewhere about socially-insensitive recruiting practices which target high-functioning autistic people.
Fortunately for them, it's a large niche, and they've self-selected for high-functioning addicts so the business model is sustainable.
There are high-functioning clinical depression sufferers, and there are people who are authentically crippled by it.
There are lots of normal, high-functioning and even helpful users having discussions daily on 4chan.
But I'm also not a charity or a community outreach program for people with high-functioning autism.
I was high-functioning, and doing pretty well all in all, but I didn't feel comfortable knowing that I had a 'dependency'.
And sadly for me, this hack is a bit harder to pull off in a job interview situation without coming off like a high-functioning alcoholic.
They may be very high-functioning — able to hold down a job and all — but they respond both physically and psychologically in a fundamentally different way.
Every time I read an article written by a high-functioning autist I find that I strongly relate to some of the traits but not others.
Google's answers are hardly black and white--part of being a developer, an engineer, or even just a high-functioning human being, is being able to synthesize an answer from several data sources of varying utility.
I'm sure there are brain-damaged people who have a single bit stuck flipped causing an aversion to talking about that concept and fully claim to not be conscious but are otherwise high-functioning and really do have the same sort of internal experiences as the rest of us.
I know a therapist who deals with trolling addicts (yes, this is a real problem for some surprisingly smart/high-functioning people) and believes troll culture is a casual sex replacement; that the sublimated, transgressive, and self-destructive energies that used to lead to casual sex are now being directed into troll culture.
Quote examples
If anything, the "skills" demanded by the present economy are those of a high-functioning psychopath [1].
The "high-functioning alcoholic" categorization seems really fishy to me.
The college alcohol study also makes no mention of "high-functioning alcoholism" in either the press release or abstract, so I don't see how it's relevant to the article at all except that someone thought it lended credence to the claims.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use high-functioning in a sentence?
Aside: there's probably a tasteless joke in there somewhere about socially-insensitive recruiting practices which target high-functioning autistic people.
What does high-functioning mean?
Functioning or operating at a high level.
What part of speech is high-functioning?
high-functioning is commonly used as adjective.