Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

one up

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 6.13 in modern English

Syllables: one up
IPA

7

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To outdo, to perform something slightly better than a competitor's prior effort.

noun

An advantage over someone.

noun

Alternative spelling of 1-up (“extra life”).

Example Sentences

"Every year the neighbors try to one-up each other with their holiday lights."
"WePay wants to get one-up in the mobile payments race with its new iOS app for small businesses."
"If you hit that block, you can get a one up."

Inflected Forms

one ups (present, singular) one upping (participle, present) one upped (participle, past) one upped (past) one-up (alternative) one ups (plural)

Phrases

one-upper get one up on go one better one-upmanship show off show up

Frequently Paired Words

get one up on go one better one-upmanship show off show up

Questions

What does one up mean?: To outdo, to perform something slightly better than a competitor's prior effort.

How to pronounce one up

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “one up”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “one up”.
Repeat and practice — Say “one up” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.