trump up

verb

trumped up; trumping up; trumps up

transitive verb

1
: to concoct especially with intent to deceive : fabricate, invent
2
archaic : to cite as support for an action or claim

Examples of trump up in a Sentence

parents who were always trumping up little projects for their children to do around the house
Recent Examples on the Web Weiss contends gun charges not 'trumped up' because of Trump The gun charges represent just one of many legal battles Hunter Biden faces. USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2024 Formerly Baathist party soldiers and other secular rebels have grown out their beards and trumped up their Islamist bona fides on YouTube to outbid their rebel peers. Lionel Beehner, Foreign Affairs, 12 Nov. 2015 The opposition saw its chief leaders sidelined on criminal charges that their supporters claimed were trumped up. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2024 Some students and professors rushed to the defense of the student groups, arguing that the allegations against them were trumped up or that the university was, at best, enforcing its rules selectively. Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2023 Navalny is serving sentences totaling 30 years on charges including extremism that are widely viewed as trumped up for political retribution. Francesca Ebel, Washington Post, 13 Oct. 2023 Trevor Reed, another former Marine who was held prisoner for nearly three years on charges the U.S. said were trumped up, was also freed last year in an exchange for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a Russian pilot convicted on drug smuggling charges. Caroline Guthrie, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2023 The cases are widely viewed as trumped up for political retribution. Beatriz Ríos, Washington Post, 5 Aug. 2023 Navalny is already serving sentences totaling more than a decade on charges widely viewed as trumped up for political attribution. Robyn Dixon, Washington Post, 19 June 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trump up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1695, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of trump up was in 1695

Dictionary Entries Near trump up

Cite this Entry

“Trump up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trump%20up. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!