High profile VS low profile

Status
Not open for further replies.

kachibi

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Hong Kong
I saw many examples of the uses of "low profile" and "high profile" as adjectives and nouns are related to the public, newspaper, television, politics, law, etc.

I wonder if I can use them to describe common things and people:

-My aunt is a high-profile person. She always boasts to our relatives about her son's salary. (expressing one's pride)
-Peter took part in a lot of school performances including drama and singing contests. He likes to gain attention from his schoolmates. He is such a high-profile person. (getting attention from others).
 

EnglishFix

Member
Joined
May 21, 2013
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
Chile
In the first sentence, I don't think "high profile" is appropriate. The aunt's boasting about her son's salary does not make her "high profile".

In the second sentence, I think that Peter could be described as "high profile" (but only at school) because he does things that gain the attention of others.
 

jabber

New member
Joined
Jul 15, 2013
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
High-profile and low profile refer to public attention. So the second sentence would be more appropriate. The first refers more to someone's personality.

Think of high-profile and low-profile as gauges of popularity.
 

kachibi

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2012
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Hong Kong
Thank you for replies.

Regarding the first example, don't you think that telling people about your success instead of being humble is a kind of "high-profile"? It is because you try to let many many people to know something related to you. Surely it is a kind of pretentious personality. But grabbing so many people's attention to your personal pride is also a kind of "high-profile"?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top