to make up
824
3.2
- phrasal verb
- /meɪk ʌp/
- When I need distraction, I often make up funny excuses to explain my absences.
- make up stories
- make up a song
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Watch on YouTubeIt's not that you make them up or invent them.
- It's not that you make them up or invent them.
- Now, these are not things that I just made-up when I met you.
- Don't know why I'm singing, making up songs like I'm so sorry.
- The brain, the mind will make up a story to make it all fit.
- But when people create facts or make up facts, then it's not a discussion.
- The story was not made-up by the Democrats.
Examples
-
We were in uncharted territory now... making up history as we went along.
Fiction book (1991) -
And really, I made all of that up on the fly.
-
You can actually make up your own, right?
-
Now my mind starts making up stories.
-
I just made that up.
-
Facts are important for your story, so be sure to make up good ones.
Academic text (2008) -
After participants draw their constellations, they make up stories about the pictures they have just made.
Academic text (1995) -
And Purse says, I'm going to make up a new term, pragmaticism.
-
As early as 1919, migrants made up the majority of black business owners in Bronzeville.
Academic text (1999) -
Make up your mind...
Synonyms
60
3.2
To make up an idea, plan, or excuse
53
6.3
To invent a story, excuse or piece of evidence to deceive people
52
3.2
To make up a story or excuse that is not true
49
6.0
Make up a story or excuse to trick people
43
5.6
Invent a story or excuse to trick people
41
7.3
To make up false information to trick people
19
8.6
To make a false story to accuse someone unfairly
13
6.5
Tell real events or people as made-up stories by changing details
2
6.8
To tell a long made-up or exaggerated story
2
4.8
Make up and tell a tale, often to entertain or avoid trouble
1
9.9
To make up stories to fill gaps in memory
1
6.5
To make up a false reason to avoid blame
1
9.9
To invent a story or excuse that is not true
Make up facts with no proof, often as a weak excuse
Antonyms
How Invented
Surface Forms
Morphology
make + up
The meaning 'to form or constitute; to combine together as parts to create a whole' is directly derivable from 'make' (to create or assemble) combined with the particle 'up', which commonly adds a sense of completion or togetherness. This verb+particle compositional pattern is regular in English and cross-linguistically accessible, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would reasonably infer this sense.
Etymology
Make up comes from the simple image of make something up out of nothing, like putting imaginary pieces together to build a story, so it means 'to invent' or 'to tell something not true'.