keyed up

adjective

Definition of keyed upnext
1
as in excited
being in a state of increased activity or agitation She's pretty keyed up from all that coffee.

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in worried
feeling or showing uncomfortable feelings of uncertainty He was all keyed up for his first day at the new job.

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 keyed up Here her strained exuberance keyed up a bit. — Christopher Hooks, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026 Resets can be used during warm-ups, after workouts, between stressful meetings or anytime your body feels keyed up. — Dana Santas, CNN Money, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for keyed up
  1. excited
  2. worried
  3. heated
  4. upset
  5. agitated
  6. nervous
  7. anxious
  8. troubled
Adjective
  • As her wedding quickly approached, Natalie recalls being excited but also emotional at wearing the dress in front of her grandmother.
    — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Like Knicks fans watching the greatest comeback in NBA playoff history excited.
    — Craig Carton OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of excited
Adjective
  • When Republican lawmakers secured cuts to the United States' largest food assistance program last year, Paige Shoemaker DeMio wasn't worried about children going hungry just at home — but at school.
    — Juliana Kim, NPR, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Mattfeld is excellent in what could easily have been a thankless role, playing Ricky with the mien of someone who is always holding it together, years of disappointment and condescension and expectation keeping her eyes worried and jaw tight.
    — Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of worried
Adjective
  • Astra is making investors feel better about OpenAI's technical prowess in its heated battle against Anthropic and a gaggle of open-source competitors.
    — Kevin Stankiewicz, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2026
  • Some heated on-pitch rivalries persist at the negotiating table, though.
    — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of heated
Adjective
  • An upset victory in Alaska for Democrats would be a massive step toward achieving that goal.
    — Joey Garrison, USA Today, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Clancy appeared upset during the sidebar but returned to the defense table with a stoic expression.
    — Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of upset
Adjective
  • Reddington looked visibly agitated while in the courtroom, both during sidebar — at which Clancy was present — and during Sullivan’s instructions.
    — Liam Quinn, PEOPLE, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Officers described the videos recorded by that camera, writing that Westman seemed agitated after a visit with family and at times sobbed before driving by the church and school the night before the attack.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of agitated
Adjective
  • The letter writer is almost 40 and nervous about living with a romantic partner for the first time.
    — Shane O’Neill, Washington Post, 3 Sep. 2026
  • That energy spike is reinforcing inflation worries in a bond market already nervous about America’s $40 trillion mountain of debt.
    — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of nervous
Adjective
  • That feels very much in tune with the anxious characters Eisenberg has played over the course of his acting career, but this whole directing thing is working out nicely for him, too.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Nelson remembers hushing her foster children back to sleep that night and calling 911, anxious for an end to those sleepless nights.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of anxious
Adjective
  • The public reckonings with these figures’ legacies—the troubled former child star gone too soon, the beloved icon, the cult favorite, the complicated eccentric—have come in a cascade.
    — Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2026
  • In the last decade Germany has sheltered millions of refugees, mainly from Syria and other troubled countries in the Middle East.
    — Erik Kirschbaum, Los Angeles Times, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of troubled

Browse Nearby Words

keyed
keyed up
keyhole
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Cite this Entry

“Keyed up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/keyed%20up. Accessed 11 Sep. 2026.

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Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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