buck up

verb

bucked up; bucking up; bucks up

intransitive verb

: to become encouraged : brace up

transitive verb

1

: improve, smarten

2

: to raise the morale of

Synonyms of buck up

• brighten
• look up
• glow
• revive

Examples of buck up in a Sentence

buck up, kids, it's not so bad as you're making it out to be

a surprise presidential visit to buck up the troops

Recent Examples on the Web

Davidsen bucks up her balky husband with a bloodthirsty holler, stiffens her voice against doubt, and, in her final sleepwalking scene, taps into the tender stratum of Lady Macbeth’s subconscious. — Justin Davidson, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026

In 2004, though, NASCAR left; the small-town infrastructure was starting to buck up against NASCAR’s ascending popularity — something racing officials wanted to capitalize on by building state-of-the-art tracks out West. — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 2 Apr. 2026

Signal flares shot into the social media sky are meant to jumpstart conversations with coaches needing to plug holes or buck up slouching fan bases. — Brian Davis, Houston Chronicle, 2 Jan. 2026

While waiting for help, stay bucked up inside your vehicle. — Anna Kleiber, jsonline.com, 15 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

buck entry 2

First Known Use

1844, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Rhymes for buck up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup