💊 Intoxicated 🚗 More powerful

hopped-up

8.0

A car with an engine changed to make it faster and more powerful

adjective
/ˈhɑpt ʌp/

Informal

: modificado

They run out of the alley and see Gaston jump on his hopped-up Kawasaki enduro.
a hopped-up version

Examples

The new racing car features a hopped-up engine that delivers impressive speed on the track.
It's hopped up to over 160.

Vanishing Point (1971)
That's something that I didn't notice in the materials that you sent me, but that really looks like it's just a hopped up muscle card.
The dust dealers played their stereo loud enough to drown out Mary's TV even at its highest volume, and within days they had built up a new set of late-night customers who rattled her windows with their hopped-up cars.

Fiction book (1996)
After modifying his vehicle, Tom proudly showcased his hopped-up truck at the auto show.
The mechanic specialized in creating hopped-up versions of classic cars for performance enthusiasts.

Synonyms

supercharged

vshopped-up

Specialized

4 5.8

An engine fitted with a part that pushes extra air to make more power

is broader covering various engine changes not limited to that single method

to turbocharged

vshopped-up

Specialized

5.1

To make something more powerful or faster, often by fitting a turbocharger

is a general engine modification to raise power and performance rather than one device

Surface Forms

hopped-up positive

Morphology

hopped-up = hop + up (semi-transparent) = hop + up + ed

Formed from the phrasal verb 'hop up' plus '-ed'; the automotive meaning 'made more powerful' is a specialized extension of the phrasal verb and may not be obvious to all B1 learners.

Etymology

Hopped-up comes from the simple verb hop ('to jump') and the word up ('higher or stronger'), so think of an engine made to 'jump up' with extra power. That's why hopped-up describes a car whose engine has been changed to give more speed.