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Glite Dictionary
on the up

on the up

3 7.5
Getting better and more successful
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : en ascenso
  • After a difficult year, my business is finally on the up again, showing signs of growth.

So that's why you get a proliferation of people helping people in cities that are on the up.

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Examples

  • You can have our internal records, showing that we're on the up and up, if that gets you up and out.

    Space Thing (1968)

  • I'm sending Jimmy along to make sure everything is on the up.

    Hell's Kitchen (1998)

  • Things were going to stay on the up and up, right?

    Blog text (24)

  • Everything was on the up and up.

    Blog text (14)

  • Things are on the up and up.

    Blog text (13)

  • Adoption of MAP tools is definitely on the up.

    Blog text (11)

  • Lately, I've been on the up and up.

    Dangerous Curves (1988)

  • Now look Rosa, I've always tried to be on the up and up with you, tried to tell you just how I felt.

    Beyond the Forest (1949)

  • "That simplified things on my end, and gave additional reassurance to donors that this was on the up and up," she adds.

    Academic text (2011)

  • I would hope that ASPCA and USHS are on the up and up and do what they can to save the animals and rehome them.

    Blog text (24)

Synonyms

on the improve
vson the up
  • Archaic
7.5

Getting better after being worse

is broader and refers to general improvement or growing success

Antonyms

to decline
344 3.7

To become less over time, for example in value or health

deterioration
43 5.9

A slow change when something like a building or a person's health becomes worse

How Improving

thriving
6 3.8
on the up
  • UK
3 7.5
improving
1.4

Surface Forms

on the up positive

Morphology

on + the + up

The core meaning 'improving' is signalled by 'up' (growth/improvement) and 'on' marks a current state, so a learner who knows the constituents can guess a positive change. However, the fixed phrase 'on the up' is idiomatic in form (includes the article) and the exact usage and nuance are not fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially compositional.

Etymology

The phrase on the up gives a clear picture of something moving higher: the word up suggests a rising line on a chart or a lift going up. One simple idea is that people used that image to show things getting better, so on the up means 'improving' or 'becoming more successful'.