Skip to main content
to man up

to man up

36 7.9
To act brave and take responsibility when things are hard
  • phrasal verb
  • /mæn ʌp/
  • Informal
translation icon : ser valiente
  • But Christie is eventually going to have to man up and say it out loud.
  • just man up
  • need to man up
  • time to man up

I'm scared of not manning up, dude.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • You have a job here and you need to man up and do it.

  • I think it's fair to ask a man to "man up" and meet his obligations, even when doing so is unpleasant.

    Blog text (19)
  • Yeah, I mean, man up. And now look at me.

  • So man up and live your values.

  • Maybe you should man up, you know?

  • So I want you to man up.

  • You gotta man up, move on.

  • You man up, you lead your squad.

  • Time to man up.

  • If you want to be promoted, you need to man up and take more responsibility on the team.

Synonyms

to stand up
vsto man up
293 3.2

To defend yourself when someone treats you unfairly

focuses on personal courage and responsibility rather than simple resistance
to be a man
vsto man up
  • Informal
117 7.3

Act with courage and responsibility when facing a hard situation

emphasises courage and strength more than just maturity in such situations
to cowboy up
vsto man up
  • Informal
4 9.9

Face a hard situation bravely and take responsibility

is similar but means general responsibility, not aggressive toughness

Antonyms

220 3.0

To stop resisting and agree to what others want

34 2.3

Move back suddenly because of fear or pain

How Brave

to man up
  • Informal
36 7.9
to back down
107 3.7
to chicken out
  • Informal
42 6.2

Surface Forms

man up infinitive
manned up past
manned up past participle
manning up present participle
mans up third person singular

Morphology

man + up

The general idea — adopting traits associated with being a "man" (strength, responsibility) combined with the particle "up" as an intensifier — can be partially inferred from the constituents, so learners might guess the expression encourages tougher or more responsible behaviour. However, the meaning is metaphorical, culturally gendered, and relies on verbing a noun and pragmatic nuance that is not fully predictable, so a B1 learner who only knows the words may not reliably derive the precise sense.

Etymology

Man up may come from the idea of stepping into the role of a man and literally standing up to face a problem, like someone rising to take charge. So it now means 'behave bravely' or 'take responsibility'.