as in devised
to create or think of by clever use of the imagination
parents who were always trumping up little projects for their children to do around the house
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as in invented
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Recent Examples of trumped-up
Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 22 Nov. 2023
Erdogan’s government has thrown (or attempted to throw) a number of key political opponents into jail on what critics say are trumped-up, spurious charges.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 10 May 2023
Alexander Smith, NBC news, 10 Oct. 2025
Although the woman-alien’s powers were trumped up to comedic effect, Estelle could not help but see that beneath its B-movie veneer, Devil Girl from Mars tapped into a looming anxiety that was palpable all around.
—Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2025
Verb
The charge was clearly trumped-up, but Yundi was immediately taken off all Chinese stages and media and prevented from going abroad.
—Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 22 Nov. 2023
Erdogan’s government has thrown (or attempted to throw) a number of key political opponents into jail on what critics say are trumped-up, spurious charges.
—Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 10 May 2023
Adjective
She was elected to the country's National Assembly in 2010, only to be expelled four years later on allegations her supporters said were trumped up.
—Alexander Smith, NBC news, 10 Oct. 2025
Although the woman-alien’s powers were trumped up to comedic effect, Estelle could not help but see that beneath its B-movie veneer, Devil Girl from Mars tapped into a looming anxiety that was palpable all around.
—Literary Hub, 19 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trumped-up
Verb
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More than 50 years passed before Kansas City artist and sculptor Dale Eldred in 1990 devised a workable design.—
Eric Adler,
Kansas City Star,
21 Oct. 2025
-
Ultimately, the researchers believe the hottest engine ever devised will help the scientific community better understand thermodynamics.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In the new Indonesian horror flick The Elixir, a new herbal potion concocted by a traditional medicine doctor accidentally wakes the dead, and now all Hell is breaking loose.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
17 Oct. 2025
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Unlike a harmless delusion, this is something that is concocted with an arc in mind, like Stacey’s relationship with TJ, Kenya Moore’s relationship with Walter Jackson her first season on RHOA, and Drew Sidora’s maybe-relationship with Dennis McKinley on this most recent season.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Newly acquired Anfernee Simons is a bucket getter with potential on defense, but the depth is young and unproven, while the center position has been completely altered.—
Stan Son,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Bello had a solid year, but Payton Tolle and Connelly Early will likely have bigger roles next year and are still relatively unproven at the big league level.—
Aaliyan Mohammed,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The sweater is constructed using mink wool and doesn’t showcase any visible seams.—
Izzy Baskette,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
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As the fireline is constructed, inspected or reinforced, mappers record those details to adjust the containment percentage.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Websites with unusually long browser names or a lack of searchable company representatives or contact information could be fraudulent.—
Tamia Fowlkes,
jsonline.com,
24 Oct. 2025
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Trump wasted no time in taking to Truth Social to lambast the video as fake and fraudulent.—
Kate Nishimura,
Sourcing Journal,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The continent that invented and spun out the internet from its first-class research institutions now risks standing by as US founders scale with ease.—
Jan Hammer,
Fortune,
18 Oct. 2025
-
After at least half a decade of acute concern about the way that platforms such as Instagram may affect young people, as well as intense debate about how best to keep kids safe online, Meta has arrived at a label that was invented in the 1980s because parents were upset by movies such as Gremlins.—
Kaitlyn Tiffany,
The Atlantic,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
Adjective
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At Comedy Central, Colbert rose to prominence playing a slightly exaggerated version of Bill O’Reilly and other unapologetically mendacious Fox News pundits from the George W. Bush years.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
18 July 2025
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The true story reveals both how freedom of speech first came to be conceived of as a mechanism for truth, an antidote to falsehood, and the foundation of all liberty—and that, ironically, this new and powerful theory was itself a deliberately mendacious fiction.—
Fara Dabhoiwala,
Harpers Magazine,
4 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trumped-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trumped-up. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
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