1
as in comprising
to be all the substance of
the book is made up of 20 chapters
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
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
3
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
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Recent Examples of making up
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
Creators making up to $400,000 a year could claim some portion of the deduction.
—Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 13 Sep. 2025
As of Wednesday, only 70,000 Palestinians had evacuated Gaza City out of approximately one million people, a senior Israeli official said, making up less than 10% of the total population.
—Ibrahim Dahman, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2025
Commercial deals, such as the NFL’s billion-dollar TV contracts, however, are shared—making up a large portion of the NFL’s roughly $280 million annual per-team salary cap.
—Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Utility rates could rise as Kentucky LG&E and KU, together making up the state's largest utility, predict electricity demand to grow by up to 45% by 2032 compared to last year, driven mostly by data centers, the Courier Journal reports.
—Sara Chernikoff, The Courier-Journal, 5 Aug. 2025
Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
Creators making up to $400,000 a year could claim some portion of the deduction.
—Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 13 Sep. 2025
As of Wednesday, only 70,000 Palestinians had evacuated Gaza City out of approximately one million people, a senior Israeli official said, making up less than 10% of the total population.
—Ibrahim Dahman, CNN Money, 6 Sep. 2025
Commercial deals, such as the NFL’s billion-dollar TV contracts, however, are shared—making up a large portion of the NFL’s roughly $280 million annual per-team salary cap.
—Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Utility rates could rise as Kentucky LG&E and KU, together making up the state's largest utility, predict electricity demand to grow by up to 45% by 2032 compared to last year, driven mostly by data centers, the Courier Journal reports.
—Sara Chernikoff, The Courier-Journal, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for making up
Verb
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The award of this contract continues the recent strong momentum Serco has seen in defence, with the sector comprising over 80% of our order intake in the first half of 2025.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
15 Sep. 2025
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In the 12-team College Football Playoff format, the Group of Five conferences, comprising the AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, and Sun Belt, are guaranteed one automatic qualifier (AQ) spot.—
Giovanni Malloy,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Meanwhile, researchers were devising methods to make McIntoshes more reliable to grow and using the McIntosh to develop hybrid apples like the Cortland and Milton.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
12 Sep. 2025
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One of the biggest difficulties in devising laws on the topic of AI for mental health involves defining what constitutes AI for mental health.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Xi Jinping has remarked that relying on foreign supply of critical technologies—like semiconductors—is tantamount to building one's house on someone else's foundation.—
Joel Thayer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
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The handle twists at a 90-degree angle to become a high-speed hair dryer, but locked into its upright position, the device converts into a self-winding curling iron, a frizz-smoothing paddle brush, and a volume-building oval brush.—
Sophia Panych,
Allure,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Time saved in data collection can be devoted to results, whether composing a report, translating documents, developing a marketing strategy or creating new software.—
Morey Haber,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
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Williams, 93 years old and still composing music, should be left alone and left to do his more important creative tasks.—
Tim Greiving,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Not only is the kitchen fully on display but a separate alcove is given over to his highly technical lab, a play space dedicated to fermentation, aging, preserving and otherwise concocting.—
Ann Abel,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
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That isn't stopping Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report from concocting a massive trade proposal that would send the nine-time All-Star to the New York Knicks.—
Ricardo Klein,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Indeed, the only character from The Office that actually carried over into the new series is Oscar, who serves as the lead accountant for Softees but gets dragooned into reporting and constructing Sudokus for the paper.—
Michael M. Rosen,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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Humanity, united by one language, settles on a plain in Shinar and begins constructing a tower to reach the heavens and make a name for themselves.—
John Fugelsang
September 12,
Literary Hub,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Focused, Not Flashy Industry rivals are assembling sprawling portfolios.—
Tony Bradley,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
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It was found that CFAP91 acts as a scaffold, a key component for assembling the radial spoke 3 (RS3) complex in the flagellum.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Although few people know her name, Yeager had a huge influence on 20th century pop culture — popularizing the bikini, helping discover Bettie Page, shaping the image of Playboy and inventing the selfie.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
12 Sep. 2025
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In many ways, today’s LLMs are far too flexible—inventing information or taking unexpected shortcuts.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Making up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/making%20up. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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