one-upped; one-upping; one-ups
: to practice one-upmanship on
: being in a position of advantage
—usually used with on
Examples of one-up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Shaheem Reid, Variety, 8 Apr. 2024
Based on the 2009 David Nicholls novel and one-upping the lackluster 2011 Anne Hathaway movie, this series has three major advantages over previous incarnations: Leo Woodall as Dexter, Ambika Mod as Emma, and the undeniable chemistry between them.
—Tanya Melendez, EW.com, 6 Apr. 2024
Chance one-upped his fellow coach by also singing the song with Nadége onstage; the surprise move helped Chance persuade the singer to join his team.
—USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2024
Her Palm Royale character, Maxine, has elements of Wiig’s previous creations — an outsider yearning for acceptance, like Annie in Bridesmaids bursting into first class, or Penelope, the SNL character who constantly one-ups other people with absurd claims.
—Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2024
Leave it to method-dressing queen Margot Robbie to try and one-up her in a Mugler spring 1996 corset at the Oscars.
—Alice Newbold, Vogue, 12 Mar. 2024
In fact, a lot of these generative AI images are almost like one-up contests in that space, like who can do a better job of fabricating reality around a particular topic.
—Fortune Editors, Fortune, 14 Feb. 2024
But there's one thing that's more important to Blake: one-upping her hubby in their never-ending troll-fest.
—Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 14 Feb. 2024
Foldable smartphones remain an expensive market segment, mixing high performance, innovation, style, and a certain amount of manufacturers trying to one-up their competition.
—Ewan Spence, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2024
Verb
But on Sunday night, Rhodes finally won the belt, one-upping Reigns’ backup from the Bloodline with his own: Seth Rollins, the Undertaker and John Cena.
—Shaheem Reid, Variety, 8 Apr. 2024
Based on the 2009 David Nicholls novel and one-upping the lackluster 2011 Anne Hathaway movie, this series has three major advantages over previous incarnations: Leo Woodall as Dexter, Ambika Mod as Emma, and the undeniable chemistry between them.
—Tanya Melendez, EW.com, 6 Apr. 2024
Chance one-upped his fellow coach by also singing the song with Nadége onstage; the surprise move helped Chance persuade the singer to join his team.
—USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2024
Her Palm Royale character, Maxine, has elements of Wiig’s previous creations — an outsider yearning for acceptance, like Annie in Bridesmaids bursting into first class, or Penelope, the SNL character who constantly one-ups other people with absurd claims.
—Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Mar. 2024
Leave it to method-dressing queen Margot Robbie to try and one-up her in a Mugler spring 1996 corset at the Oscars.
—Alice Newbold, Vogue, 12 Mar. 2024
In fact, a lot of these generative AI images are almost like one-up contests in that space, like who can do a better job of fabricating reality around a particular topic.
—Fortune Editors, Fortune, 14 Feb. 2024
But there's one thing that's more important to Blake: one-upping her hubby in their never-ending troll-fest.
—Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 14 Feb. 2024
Foldable smartphones remain an expensive market segment, mixing high performance, innovation, style, and a certain amount of manufacturers trying to one-up their competition.
—Ewan Spence, Forbes, 14 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'one-up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“One-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/one-up. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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