Meaning Of Idiom ‘High Time’
When it’s high time to do something, it’s overdue or past the time when it should have happened, so it needs to happen immediately; the appropriate time or past the appropriate time. 1,2
Similar to about time and not to be confused with ‘a high time.’
Examples Of Use
“It’s high time I got a new car.”
“It’s high time you saw a doctor about these chest pains you’ve been having.”
“It’s high time you children went to bed.”
“It’s high time the representative faces repercussions for his ridiculous behavior.”
“Don’t you think it’s high time we stood up to management and demanded equal pay?”
“We haven’t been away in forever. It’s high time we had a vacation.”
Origin
Used since at least the early 1800s.
The idiom is an allusion to the warmest part of the day, when the sun is highest in the sky, i.e. ‘high noon.’ In older times, once this time was reached, the better part of the day was over and if something needed to be done, it should have already been done, as one was ‘losing light.’
- Definition of (it’s) high time from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
- Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.