uppity
20
9.0
- adjective
- /ˈʌpɪti/
- Informal
:
altanero
- I can't stand how uppity she gets when she talks about her achievements.
- get uppity
- too uppity
- uppity black
Those enablers may say you're being difficult or cold or uppity by being disengaged.
- Those enablers may say you're being difficult or cold or uppity by being disengaged.
- And she comes back and there's these two Uptown uppity lawyers and there's this funny scene where she basically lays out that she's saved the day.
- I'm fussy, I'm being uppity, or others shame us.
Examples
-
Clint Eastwood apparently took offense to those uppity young hooligans and their "Moneyballs" last year.
Blog text (5) -
Liza, a Southerner, finds herself working for an "uppity" Chicago black family.
Fiction book (2000) -
Each had a firm opinion, but giving an order would single him out as uppity.
Fiction book (1990) -
You've been a little uppity.
-
Don't go getting so uppity.
-
And so the this rumor was part of the fear of quote UN quote, uppity women putting forth demands.
-
In the kingdom of life, there are none more uppity or ambitious, not surprising given their lowly origins.
Fiction book (2001) -
By the time Soul Food was "discovered" in the 1960s, Southerners were already grumbling about the pretensions of "uppity cityfolk."
Academic text (1999) -
She always acts so uppity, as if she knows more than everyone else.
-
His uppity attitude made it hard for him to make friends at the new school.
Synonyms
2
9.8
Too much pride and confidence that makes people dislike you
1
9.9
Too confident and rude in a way that annoys other people
Being very proud and acting like you are better than others
Antonyms
How Arrogant
14
8.1
260
4.5
- Offensive
7
5.3
- Informal
20
9.0
13
5.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
uppity = uppish (opaque) = up + y
The change from 'uppish' to 'uppity' is a straightforward adjectival variation preserving the same sense of arrogance.
Etymology
Uppity comes from the simple word up, which means 'higher' or 'above', so to be uppity is to act as if you are 'above' other people or more important than is right. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine someone standing on a small box to look taller.