as in spouting (off)
to voice one's opinions freely with force
she's never been afraid to speak up at town meetings
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in speaking out
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of speaking up
Elizabeth Shackelford, Twin Cities, 26 Sep. 2025
There is power in speaking up to reveal these hateful ideologies that have incited deadly violence.
—Christopher Tremoglie, The Washington Examiner, 25 Sep. 2025
Selena Gomez, Olivia Rodrigo and hundreds of other artists are speaking up after Jimmy Kimmel Live!
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 22 Sep. 2025
As free speech becomes a hot-button issue in the wake of Charlie Kirk‘s assassination, one of his colleagues and close friends is speaking up for his interests.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 18 Sep. 2025
Does the environment reward speaking up respectfully?
—Sarah Hernholm, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
And thankfully, regulators are speaking up, as well.
—Susan Tompor, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2025
As a mom of two, Morgan is speaking up for the first time since retiring from soccer as a mom and showing that true success isn’t about keeping score.
—Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
For administrators, that means creating a work environment where everyone feels comfortable speaking up and confident that they will be given a fair hearing.
—Nona Han, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Aug. 2025
Adjective
That expression can come in a variety of ways, such as speaking up in a group, filing an official complaint, writing or publishing those views, or demonstrating and rallying to draw attention to them.
—Elizabeth Shackelford, Twin Cities, 26 Sep. 2025
There is power in speaking up to reveal these hateful ideologies that have incited deadly violence.
—Christopher Tremoglie, The Washington Examiner, 25 Sep. 2025
Selena Gomez, Olivia Rodrigo and hundreds of other artists are speaking up after Jimmy Kimmel Live!
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 22 Sep. 2025
As free speech becomes a hot-button issue in the wake of Charlie Kirk‘s assassination, one of his colleagues and close friends is speaking up for his interests.
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 18 Sep. 2025
Does the environment reward speaking up respectfully?
—Sarah Hernholm, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
And thankfully, regulators are speaking up, as well.
—Susan Tompor, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2025
As a mom of two, Morgan is speaking up for the first time since retiring from soccer as a mom and showing that true success isn’t about keeping score.
—Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 4 Sep. 2025
For administrators, that means creating a work environment where everyone feels comfortable speaking up and confident that they will be given a fair hearing.
—Nona Han, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for speaking up
Verb
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Medical experts are speaking out after the president's speech, trying to slow the snowball of misinformation.—
Alexis Kayser,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Sep. 2025
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This is not Affleck's first time speaking out on the issue.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
25 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Ulukaya has been a vocal supporter of hiring refugees and pledged to give away the majority of his fortune to help refugees, according to The New York Times.—
Emily Barnes,
USA Today,
24 Sep. 2025
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Standouts in the cat-boutique vocal cast include Donovan Patton as the acerbic CatRat, Julien Donenfield as Cakey the cupcake, and Maggie Lowe as the innocent Baby Box, who’s got a head like a small house.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Sexton, Lee says, elevates the whole environment and Sexton and Ball are really building a rapport and talking up a storm together a lot after practice.—
Roderick Boone,
Charlotte Observer,
20 Sep. 2025
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Spanish sales agents flip that the other way round for France, talking up more broader audience plays, quite a few these days genre pics, genre’s consolidation as a theatrical proposition, bound for Sitges.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
19 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Better to spend your time shouting out the writing that makes your heart sing.—
Maris Kreizman
September 25,
Literary Hub,
25 Sep. 2025
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Posts by the group to social media appear to show TSU students shouting at its members, filming them and following along as campus police escorted them off campus.—
Rachel Wegner,
Nashville Tennessean,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Younger Republican voters and GOP contrarians are piping up to challenge the broad consensus in the Republican Party that has been in lockstep with policy on Israel.—
Kristina Karisch,
The Hill,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
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There were clearly plenty of struggles, leading to the Buccaneers' signal caller sounding off on the issues.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Sep. 2025
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For the writers pictured here, engaging with culture isn’t a hobby or a sideline or a way of sounding off.—
Richard Renaldi,
New Yorker,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
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That mood that was most certainly shared by the audience members experiencing a wide array of emotions (from dancing to crying) thanks to the combination of excitement and nostalgia.—
Josh Chesler,
AZCentral.com,
28 Sep. 2025
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In front of reporters, the agent grabbed the crying woman by the arms before shoving her to the wall and then downward.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Smollett, who is gay and Black, claimed that two men had attacked him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs outside of his apartment building in Chicago.—
Stephanie Wenger,
PEOPLE,
24 Sep. 2025
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Cutting off other vehicles and honking out of anger is up from 2016, while tailgating and yelling at other drivers is down, according to AAA.—
Natalie Davies,
Freep.com,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Speaking up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/speaking%20up. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
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