het up

adjective

ˈhet-ˈəp How to pronounce het up (audio)
Definition of het upnext
as in worried
feeling or showing uncomfortable feelings of uncertainty it won't do you any good to get all het up before the tryouts and lose sleep

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of het up As for the airport tray aesthetic, while people might be getting het up at the idea of Gen Z holding up the line for some navel-gazing, the US Transport Security Administration is sanguine about the risk. — Maureen O'Hare, CNN, 8 Sep. 2024 Something about unfolding Bennifer events, this rekindling of an old flame, has got all of us het up. — Raven Smith, Vogue, 16 June 2021 In a normal December, people would be more concerned with the holidays and a busy schedule and wouldn't get this het up with Congress. — Arkansas Online, 28 Dec. 2020 Cultural appropriation is one of the issues that gets hft most het up. — Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for het up
  1. worried
  2. upset
  3. anxious
  4. nervous
  5. ill at ease
  6. troubled
  7. uneasy
Adjective
  • It’s mainly centered on Billie, who is worried about an old Facebook post standing in the way of finding a job.
    — Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The Middle East has long worried about its dependence on the United States and has thus been diversifying its partnerships since the Arab Spring, in 2011.
    — Dina Esfandiary, Foreign Affairs, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of worried
Adjective
  • Common signs that your dog may be sensitive to something in their food can include frequent scratching, paw licking, gas, loose stools, occasional digestive upset, or changes in coat quality.
    — Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
  • The thinking is that orbital data centers can leapfrog past some of the ground-level issues such as where to build them, and upset communities that don’t want to host data centers, despite their municipalities making deals for construction.
    — Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of upset
Adjective
  • History suggests that anxious allies who are not reassured by their more powerful patron will invest in their own defense.
    — JENNIFER KAVANAGH, Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 2026
  • For me, Sliman was pouring water on a dormant seed anxious to sprout.
    — Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of anxious
Adjective
  • Nvidia's forecast comes at a time when investors remain nervous about capital expenditures from large tech companies, the circular nature of financing deals and the return from AI investments.
    — Kai Nicol-Schwarz,Arjun Kharpal, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Why bats can pose a rabies risk Rabies spreads through the saliva or nervous tissue of an infected mammal, usually through a bite.
    — Anthony Thompson, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of nervous
Adjective
  • Dr Hoggett’s office was in a hospital across town, a building with long corridors, low ceilings, handwashing stations and works of art that were at once innocuous and ill at ease.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The squad were simultaneously in awe, and ill at ease.
    — Nick Miller, New York Times, 17 June 2026
Definition of ill at ease
Adjective
  • The engaging biopic tracks Davidson's troubled upbringing to finding a way as an adult to deal with his condition and discover needed confidence.
    — Brian Truitt, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Watching myself in the insightful new doc Boorman and the Devil, about the troubled 1977 sequel to The Exorcist, was a very strange experience.
    — Britina Cheng, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of troubled
Adjective
  • Kurt's key takeaways Hearing AI on a 911 call would make a lot of people uneasy.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Falwell correctly sensed vulnerability in the uneasy alliance between rationalism and Christianity that had prevailed since the eighteenth-century Enlightenment.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of uneasy

Browse Nearby Words

heteronomy
het up
hew
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Het up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/het%20up. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
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!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gumption

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All