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

However, Rusty Griswold did end up at Disneyland, working as a security guard as an inside joke for fans in a 2019 episode of The Goldbergs. —Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 1 May 2025

And yet, in an ironic twist, the attorney general’s office may end up benefiting from the flood of legal talent entering the job market as a result of Trump’s tactics. —Michael Wilner, Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2025

Was sent out again last summer and ended up making more league appearances than anyone else at Plymouth this season. —Beren Cross, New York Times, 1 May 2025

Lon is a handsome, wealthy lawyer from a prominent Southern family who’s engaged to marry Rachel McAdams' Allie Hamilton, but the couple did not end up together. —Emily Rella, People.com, 1 May 2025

Rhymes for end up

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