kept up
1
3.0
- adjective
- Through it all, the child kept up a running monologue in a sweet, musical voice, soothing the ears, quieting the mind.
- kept up to date
- kept up appearances
- kept up their house
Loading YouTube…
Watch on YouTubeSo my room has not been not been kept up to par lately basically.
- So my room has not been not been kept up to par lately basically.
- They can be kept up for as long as you want.
- I just understand that many will and that hygiene needs to be kept up as well.
Examples
-
All around lie the lawns, still neatly kept up, but they seem to really belong here now.
Fiction book (1997) -
Fred Mulligan bought that organ, and it sounds like it's been kept up to snuff.
Fiction book (2000) -
Well, to be fair, he does do a good job keeping up the grounds.
-
So my room has not been not been kept up to par lately basically.
-
The plants are essentially kept up by a constant feeding of fertilizer.
-
If the landlord has not kept up proper maintenance, he cannot evict you.
-
Oddly, the pool was being kept up, although no one lived anywhere in the vicinity to swim in it.
Fiction book (1994) -
I assume everyone kept up with the readings assigned by Ms. Jenkins before she left and are ready to talk about Fitzgerald's classic... The Great Gatsby.
-
The ivy creeping across the leaded-glass windowpanes kept up a festive fluttering, like banners.
Fiction book (1997) -
The garden is beautifully kept up, with vibrant flowers and well-trimmed hedges.
Synonyms
44
3.0
Kept in good condition to stop decay or damage
21
1.8
Neat and in good condition because someone looks after it
16
2.8
Kept in good condition by regular care
6
4.1
A person who is still healthy and looks young for their age
5
2.9
Someone looks after them to keep them healthy and safe
Antonyms
How Maintained
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'maintained/in good condition' is directly derivable from 'keep' (to look after or maintain) combined with the particle 'up', which adds a sense of continuation or maintenance; together they form the common phrasal verb 'keep up' meaning to maintain. This is a regular compositional pattern found across languages and is likely to be understood by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Kept up comes from the simple image of keeping something up or standing — for example, fixing a fence or patching a roof so it does not fall down. So, kept up means 'maintained in good condition'.