caught up
114
5.2
- phrasal verb
- /kɔt ʌp/
:
envuelto
- So many people get caught up in the process of selling.
- get caught up
- caught up in life
- too caught up
But we get so caught up in that day.
- But we get so caught up in that day.
- I'll I'll get caught up in my own hope.
- Man, we get so caught up talking to other people.
- Let our minds be caught up in a dream.
- I don't want you getting caught up in the fight, all right?
- So I, I don't want people to get too caught up on the mechanics of this.
- This room, this energy, this DNA doesn't get caught up on believing in yesterday.
- Some of them are kind of so caught up in their lifestyle and who they are.
- So don't get caught up in all these other nonsense, all right?
- Zach, don't get caught up in trying to re imagine yourself.
- It's because language is confusing and people can get caught up in that confusion.
Examples
-
We were caught up in the moment, because our love is big!
-
I think he just got a bit caught up with a girl at work.
-
But we get so caught up in that day.
-
I guess I got a little caught up in all of this.
-
Sometimes a writer can get caught up in the changing times.
Academic text (2000) -
Look, I know it's easy to get caught up in the fear of the situation, but can we all just take a breath and remember what we wanted out of this community when we moved here?
-
Ordinarily, Billy would have been just as caught up in their reading as Lane, but today was different.
Fiction book (1991) -
I'm trying so hard not to get caught up now, but you're just so cool.
-
Both programmes beautifully captured the dignity displayed by ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events.
Academic text (2011) -
She got caught up in the emotional stories while reading the book.
Synonyms
355
3.5
Feeling a strong emotional connection to someone or something
130
4.0
Busy with something and cannot do other things
62
4.8
Very interested and completely involved in something
1
4.5
Paying all your attention to something because you are very interested
1
7.5
Caught up in something so you cannot easily leave
1
7.8
In a bad situation that stops progress like being stuck in mud
Feeling overwhelmed by many confusing problems you cannot control
Antonyms
How Involved
Surface Forms
Morphology
catch + up
The sense 'involved/absorbed involuntarily' is partially derivable from 'caught' (to be trapped or seized) with 'up' adding a resultative/intensive nuance, so learners can infer a meaning like 'trapped/entangled in something.' However, the exact interpersonal/emotional sense and the idiomatic passive construction 'get caught up in' are somewhat metaphorical and variable across contexts, so it is not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Caught up may come from the image of someone being caught in a net or swept up by a strong current, unable to get free. That's why it now means 'involved' or 'absorbed' in something, often without meaning to.