end up

phrasal verb

ended up; ending up; ends up

: to reach or come to a place, condition, or situation that was not planned or expected

The book ended up in the trash.

He didn't want to end up like his father.

She ended up a rich woman.

He ended up (living) in a nursing home.

The movie we wanted to see was sold out so we ended up seeing a different one.

Examples of end up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Chalamet ended up attending the Berlin Film Festival in February 2017 while wearing the pink Berluti trench coat atop a black suit with a black sweater and black leather boots. —Angel Saunders, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025

Pop stars often talk about working hard, but Rosalía makes most of her peers seem lazy, and, indeed, any listener not inclined to embark upon a multilingual research project may end up feeling a bit lazy, too. —Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2025

For the latter, which is the prosthetics approach the team ended up going with, Hiro paid special attention to the browline. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 7 Nov. 2025

Roan ended up taking home the trophy. —Walden Green, Pitchfork, 7 Nov. 2025

Rhymes for end up

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