MAKING UP Synonyms: 131 Similar and Opposite Words

making up

verb

Definition of making up next

present participle of make up

as in comprising

to be all the substance of the book is made up of 20 chapters

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in devising

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

as in building

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 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 making up Black people account for 53% of the unhoused population, despite making up less than one-third of the city’s total population. —

Willie Wilson, Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb. 2026 Barnes noted that the team's computer simulations were limited by the number and sizes of the particles making up the clouds of pebbles that went on to form planetesimals. —

Charles Q. Choi, Space.com, 26 Feb. 2026 With Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb solely making up for nearly 37% of the team's cap, there's not much to go around. —

Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 5 Feb. 2026 In the same time frame, the number of homes that are valued at $500,000 went from 5% to 25% of the city’s housing stock — making up a quarter of what’s available in Olathe. —

Taylor O'Connor, Kansas City Star, 10 Jan. 2026 Arteta ended this block of matches before the international break by being adventurous against both Newcastle and West Ham, despite slightly different personnel making up that midfield unit. —

Art De Roché, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2025 Center, and the bourbon bars and distilleries making up Whiskey Row. —

Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 5 Oct. 2025 The Lumbee Tribe has 60,000 members in Robeson, Hoke, Scotland and Cumberland counties, making up the largest tribe east of the Mississippi River and the ninth largest in the country, the resolution says. —

Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 4 Oct. 2025 This stems from the concept of reparations in the popular consciousness being flattened to mean checks for Black people making up for the harms of slavery. —

Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for making up

Verb

As a nuclear power, Pakistan commands a sophisticated defense apparatus comprising an army, navy, air force, and marine corps.

— Sophia Saifi, CNN Money, 27 Feb. 2026
Dressed in Swansea’s colours, the 54-year-old took the field ahead of the Championship game against Preston North End through a guard of honour comprising young footballers from Wales, as over 20,000 fans filled the stands.

— Reuters, NBC news, 25 Feb. 2026