as in to outdo
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Recent Examples of one-up
Network correspondents scramble to one-up each other.
—
Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2026
Maybe to one-up John Cage and his infamous four minutes, thirty-three seconds of silence, Sun Ra had composed a piece for a band that never comes.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
Gary subsequently attempts to one-up his brother by trying — and spectacularly failing — to flip off of the highest point on the set.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Feb. 2026
During a performance, Boone does a flip and Stiller attempts to one-up him, jumping from increasingly higher platforms on stage to disastrous, but humorous, effect.
—Sarah Whitten,sara Salinas,sarah Jackson,leslie Josephs, CNBC, 8 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for one-up
Michael Scherer, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2026
Maybe to one-up John Cage and his infamous four minutes, thirty-three seconds of silence, Sun Ra had composed a piece for a band that never comes.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
Gary subsequently attempts to one-up his brother by trying — and spectacularly failing — to flip off of the highest point on the set.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Feb. 2026
During a performance, Boone does a flip and Stiller attempts to one-up him, jumping from increasingly higher platforms on stage to disastrous, but humorous, effect.
—Sarah Whitten,sara Salinas,sarah Jackson,leslie Josephs, CNBC, 8 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for one-up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for one-up
Verb
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Not to be outdone, Sotheby’s has its own Rothko trophy work on offer, the 1957 painting Brown and Blacks in Reds, estimated at $100 million.—
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
3 May 2026
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Of course, Carly’s kitsch far outdid her neighbors’ in its oddness, luridness, lavishness.—
Olivia Kan-Sperling,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
Verb
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The psychological thriller follows a traumatized WWII veteran who tries to outrun a dark secret during the infamous 1976 British summer drought.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
28 Apr. 2026
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That choice gives the brand a steady tone, which matters in a field where hype can outrun caution.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But the sector is up more than 8% for 2026, outpacing the S & P 500′s gain of around 5%.—
Alex Harring,
CNBC,
4 May 2026
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There’s a trust gap on both sides, and technology is outpacing change management.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
4 May 2026
Verb
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Mike Strautmanis, the chief corporate affairs officer at the Obama Foundation, said the center represents the movement full of people wanting to better their community that elected Obama to the White House.—
Madeline King,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
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One version of the nation’s history anchors itself in the efforts to navigate those tempests, to better the imperfect tools bequeathed to us by imperfect men.—
Jelani Cobb,
New Yorker,
4 May 2026
Verb
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Yapi created the opportunity by outracing Carlos Harvey down the left flank.—
Andy Greder,
Twin Cities,
11 Aug. 2025
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May was replaced by Anthony Banda, who was greeted with another two-run triple by Willy Adames (who had already homered to open the scoring in the second inning) and a run-scoring infield single from Lee, who outraced Banda to first base to punctuate a painfully long inning.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
12 July 2025
Verb
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That's because the waning gibbous moon will appear in the sky at the same time, most likely outshining many of the fainter shooting stars.—
Anthony Wood,
Space.com,
4 May 2026
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Hegseth and Vance’s differences extend to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a close friend of Vance’s who at times has outshone the Pentagon boss.—
Michael Scherer,
The Atlantic,
27 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Of those, 29 were acts of vandalism, surpassing the previous state record of 25 and marking the highest number of antisemitic property crimes ever documented in Georgia.—
CBS News Atlanta Digital Team,
CBS News,
6 May 2026
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South Korea’s Samsung saw its market capitalization surpass $1 trillion as demand for semiconductors soared; fellow chipmaker SK Hynix also reached a record high, while Alphabet leapt on news of a $200 billion deal with Anthropic.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
6 May 2026
Verb
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This is one of those records that just transcends time.—
Time,
Time,
6 May 2026
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Bolton and his team placed plenty of artworks in close proximity to garments of all kinds, suggesting artistic dialogue that transcends geographic and temporal boundaries.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
4 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“One-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/one-up. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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