speak up

verb

spoke up; spoken up; speaking up; speaks up

intransitive verb

1

: to speak loudly and distinctly

2

: to express an opinion freely

… speak up for truth and justice …

—Clive Bell

Synonyms of speak up

• speak out
• shout
• cry
• talk up
• yell
• pipe up
• spout (off)
• sound off

Examples of speak up in a Sentence

she's never been afraid to speak up at town meetings

Recent Examples on the Web

But not speaking up can still be risky in an era of widespread worry about climate change, AI, war, and so on. — Phil Wahba, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026

But one of the few voices of reason, scientist Ganesh (Riz Ahmed, also one of the few performances allowed any nuance), speaks up to explain how that would set off a whole new chain of disasters, refusing to sugarcoat the awful truth for the public. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 29 Sep. 2026

Thank you to everyone who spoke up, showed up, emailed, and voiced your feedback. — Jordan Burrows, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026

Weeks later, one of her most skeptical peers spoke up in a leadership meeting—not to object, but to explain why the change mattered for his team too. — Andriana Eliadis, Forbes.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for speak up

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

Kids Definition

speak up

verb

: speak out