Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

upkeep

/ˈʌpkip/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English

Syllables: up-keep
IPA: /ˈʌpkip/

14

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

4

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Maintenance; the act or effort of keeping something in good and working condition.

Uncountable

verb

To maintain (something) or keep it in good repair.

British usage; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"I would enjoy having a swimming pool, but I don't want to deal with the upkeep."
"[…] it was unnecessary to fence off pasture from arable land, which saved a lot of labour on the upkeep of hedges and gates."
"The story of upkeep has been never-ending. Between 1997-2000, a major programme of maintenance entailed replacing superstructure timbers - 50 main rail beams were replaced with greenheart, along with a similar number of edge beams."
"Do you know how to upkeep a boat?"
"As for the city's buildings, it mostly resembled a town of white spires and cobblestone streets lined with flowerbeds that were upkept by magical means."

Etymology

From up + keep.

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈʌpkip/

Usage

Inflected Forms

upkeeps (plural) upkeeps (present, singular) upkeeping (participle, present) upkept (participle, past) upkept (past)

Synonyms

care maintenance sustenance sustentation sustainment

Questions

How do you pronounce upkeep?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈʌpkip/.
What does upkeep mean?: Maintenance; the act or effort of keeping something in good and working condition.
Where does upkeep come from?: From up + keep.

How to pronounce upkeep

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