as in fictitious
not real and existing only in the imagination
the bogeyman was one of those made-up monsters whose sole purpose was to threaten children
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in comprised
to be all the substance of
the book is made up of 20 chapters
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in devised
to create or think of by clever use of the imagination
she keeps making up excuses as to why she hasn't yet finished the project
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in built
to form by putting together parts or materials
we'll have to make up the bookcase, which came in a box marked "some assembly required"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of made-up
Rachel Treisman, NPR, 19 Nov. 2025
And while OpenAI’s defenders could chalk that up to an isolated or even made-up incident, within 24 hours of the GPT-5 launch Altman was doing damage control, seemingly caught of guard by the bad reception.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2025
Because a lot of things on reality TV are made-up situations and scenarios to provoke reactions and all of that stuff.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2025
Something more insidious is at play with all of the half-baked or made-up statistics.
—Lisa Jarvis, Mercury News, 6 June 2025
The irony is that it is accepted that the tabloids found in the grocery store checkout aisle are often made-up or greatly exaggerated.
—Peter Suciu, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025
American agricultural products once made-up 40 percent of China's market; that amount has fallen below 20 percent.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
Canons are as made-up as the stories that are part of them, so Dark Forces still has value as part of an old continuity that remains fun and quite wacky at times.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 7 Mar. 2025
According to Jackson, our completely made-up (but almost certainly accurate) mythology for the ABC sudser isn’t necessarily dead in the water.
—Claire Franken, TVLine, 4 Mar. 2025
Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
More than half of the state's overall revenue picture is made up of an ongoing sales and use tax, which saw a fiscal year-to-year decrease.
—Dominik Dausch, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 29 Jan. 2026
According to the association, 22% of the state’s foodservice workforce is made up of immigrants.
—Claire Ballor, Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan. 2026
German travelers made up the largest group in 2025, with approximately 753,000 passengers, followed by British passengers at 337,000 and Americans at 185,000.
—David Nikel, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
This archetype has been around as long as storytelling itself, but it’s actually made up of several highly differentiated sub-archetypes.
—Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
The second of three meetings of the CIF Southern Section Council — the Southern Section’s legislative body that is made up of league representatives — is Tuesday.
—Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 22 Jan. 2026
Bow windows are made up of four or more windows joined in a gentle curve that extends beyond the exterior wall.
—Roxanne Downer, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
At time time of his interview with FN, 64 percent chose the latter answer — but his audience is largely made up of the straight male audience typically associated with sneaker culture.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 15 Jan. 2026
Adjective
And there's not one right way to do it, considering the holiday is made-up and the real thing is just around the corner.
—Rachel Treisman, NPR, 19 Nov. 2025
And while OpenAI’s defenders could chalk that up to an isolated or even made-up incident, within 24 hours of the GPT-5 launch Altman was doing damage control, seemingly caught of guard by the bad reception.
—Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2025
Because a lot of things on reality TV are made-up situations and scenarios to provoke reactions and all of that stuff.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 2 Aug. 2025
Something more insidious is at play with all of the half-baked or made-up statistics.
—Lisa Jarvis, Mercury News, 6 June 2025
The irony is that it is accepted that the tabloids found in the grocery store checkout aisle are often made-up or greatly exaggerated.
—Peter Suciu, Forbes.com, 5 June 2025
American agricultural products once made-up 40 percent of China's market; that amount has fallen below 20 percent.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Apr. 2025
Canons are as made-up as the stories that are part of them, so Dark Forces still has value as part of an old continuity that remains fun and quite wacky at times.
—Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 7 Mar. 2025
According to Jackson, our completely made-up (but almost certainly accurate) mythology for the ABC sudser isn’t necessarily dead in the water.
—Claire Franken, TVLine, 4 Mar. 2025
Verb
Cramer, in particular, praised Meta’s advertising business, which made up 97% of overall revenue for the quarter.
—Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 29 Jan. 2026
More than half of the state's overall revenue picture is made up of an ongoing sales and use tax, which saw a fiscal year-to-year decrease.
—Dominik Dausch, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 29 Jan. 2026
According to the association, 22% of the state’s foodservice workforce is made up of immigrants.
—Claire Ballor, Dallas Morning News, 29 Jan. 2026
German travelers made up the largest group in 2025, with approximately 753,000 passengers, followed by British passengers at 337,000 and Americans at 185,000.
—David Nikel, Forbes.com, 23 Jan. 2026
This archetype has been around as long as storytelling itself, but it’s actually made up of several highly differentiated sub-archetypes.
—Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
The second of three meetings of the CIF Southern Section Council — the Southern Section’s legislative body that is made up of league representatives — is Tuesday.
—Steve Fryer, Oc Register, 22 Jan. 2026
Bow windows are made up of four or more windows joined in a gentle curve that extends beyond the exterior wall.
—Roxanne Downer, USA Today, 22 Jan. 2026
At time time of his interview with FN, 64 percent chose the latter answer — but his audience is largely made up of the straight male audience typically associated with sneaker culture.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 15 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for made-up
Adjective
-
Comulate also invented a fictitious insurance agent named Jordan Bates, who purported to work for PBC and who interacted with Applied Systems salespeople through email (with a Phoenix Benefits email domain) to create a customer account on Applied’s Epic.—
John Hyatt,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
-
In a comparable case in the United States in 2023, a federal judge imposed $5,000 fines on two lawyers and a law firm after ChatGPT was blamed for their submission of fictitious legal research in an aviation injury claim.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The teams comprised veteran baseball stars from both nations.—
Vivian Salama,
The Atlantic,
11 Jan. 2026
-
The leather shoes comprised a mix of male boots, children’s and women’s shoes.—
Jaden Thompson,
Footwear News,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
New uses are continually being devised.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
-
With no worthy opponents left, Baki and the underground fighters grow restless — until a plan is devised to resurrect Miyamoto Musashi, Japan’s greatest swordsman.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Rose limited Hernandez to just three shots and four points in the first half as the Tritons built a 32-29 halftime lead.—
Dan Arritt,
Oc Register,
25 Jan. 2026
-
An external receiver, potentially built into a wearable device, detects the signal from up to two feet away.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
25 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
An imaginary line drawn through the stars Bellatrix in Orion and Alnitak (the lowest star in Orion's Belt), extended about twice its own length, also leads to Murzam.—
Joe Rao,
Space.com,
23 Jan. 2026
-
And there are no effects, there are no imaginary monsters.—
Victoria Edel,
PEOPLE,
19 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Originally, this was a great mystery, as cosmic rays were known to be composed almost exclusively of protons, and the theoretical limit on a proton that traveled through intergalactic space should forbid such excessively high energies.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
30 Jan. 2026
-
This primordial soup was composed of a plasma of particles called quarks and gluons that rapidly cooled, causing these two types of particles to fuse and create fundamental particles like protons and neutrons, which today sit at the heart of all atoms that make up the matter all around us.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
In The Beauty, Ryan Murphy and co-creator Matthew Hodgson have concocted a genre-hopping oddity that sounds unlikely to work.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Prosecutors say Brendan Banfield concocted an elaborate scheme to kill his wife, Christine Banfield, and another man, Joseph Ryan, in their family home in February 2023.—
Lauren del Valle,
CNN Money,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The current record is held by Sven Goebel, also from Germany, who constructed a 9-foot-6-inch tower made from 70,000 beer coasters in 2004.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
31 Jan. 2026
-
About 91% of office buildings constructed since 2000 are leased.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Made-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/made-up. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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