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

Relevance

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
  • Wall Street isn’t particularly excited about CagriSema, whose previous late-stage clinical trials disappointed investors because the drug showed weight loss efficacy below expectations.
    — Annika Kim Constantino,Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Winters said his mission is still driven in large part by getting kids excited about playing a violin or cello.
    — Andres Viglucci, Miami Herald, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of excited
Adjective
  • Franceschini was worried while the couple browsed the shops around the village before taking a casual walk onto the renowned wooden bridge.
    — Karie Angell Luc, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The security founders were worried about regulatory and compliance risk.
    — Hammed Afenifere, Forbes.com, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of worried
Adjective
  • The grounds are also home to multiple dining and lounge areas plus a heated three-car garage.
    — Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 29 Sep. 2026
  • These new suites do just that with intuitive buttons for lighting and curtains, heated bathroom floors, and extra-large tubs big enough to fit half a rowing team.
    — Nicole Trilivas, Travel + Leisure, 29 Sep. 2026
Definition of heated
Adjective
  • But there were clearly hundreds of Disney employees who were very upset about that.
    — Todd Spangler, Variety, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Many have responded to Swan Song negatively, with RadarOnline previously reporting that some royal observers are upset that Spencer is looking to reopen old wounds while Charles is battling cancer.
    — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of upset
Adjective
  • Migratory birds in captivity develop Zugunruhe, an agitated fitfulness, at certain times of year.
    — Rivka Galchen, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Following instructions from the kidnappers (unbeknownst to his increasingly agitated comrades), Lee drives out to meet them for the exchange, only to wreck his car and become distracted saving a nearby woman, Hua (Moon Lee).
    — Jake Cole, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of agitated
Adjective
  • But Democrats are arguing that Trump is going to red states like Alabama because Republicans are nervous.
    — Oren Oppenheim, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • The admittedly nervous executive started Monday’s news conferences by apologizing to the Clippers’ faithful for the aftermath of the Leonard situation.
    — Joaquin Ruiz, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of nervous
Adjective
  • Many of Martin’s clients come in feeling anxious about making the leap, unsure whether the look will suit them.
    — Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Forrest says he was pushed into thinking about climate change in the 2010s by his daughter Sophia, who was anxious about the planet’s future.
    — Vivienne Walt, Fortune, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of anxious
Adjective
  • This project, classical in form, presents a sweeping vision of how the past has led to the present, an epic for this troubled age, a dispatch from a roiling Europe that nonetheless reflects back the difficult beauty of human existence.
    — Craig Morgan Teicher, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Which is what troubled regulators even more about this particular outbreak.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of troubled

Browse Nearby Words

keyed
keyed up
keyhole
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Keyed up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/keyed%20up. Accessed 2 Oct. 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 heterodox

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 2

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
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
name tags
Words Named After People Quiz Find out who’s behind "leotard," "morphine," an...
See All