Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

come up roses

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.00 in modern English

Syllables: come up ros-es
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To enter into a condition or situation which is favorable; to develop in a pleasing or advantageous manner.

Example Sentences

"All of a sudden, or so it seemed, the world had turned around and they were coming up roses. Now, instead of the bottle being half empty it was suddenly half full, and getting closer and closer to the top."
""Buck up, mister. Why, with your background, your knowledge, you'll come up roses.""
"[E]verything came up roses for Warren Beatty. The all-important New York Times review by Brooks Atkinson called him "earnest and attractive"."

Etymology

Coined by lyricist Stephen Sondheim for a song from the musical Gypsy (1959).

Inflected Forms

comes up roses (present, singular) coming up roses (participle, present) came up roses (past)

Phrases

come up trumps smell like a rose

Frequently Paired Words

come up trumps smell like a rose

Questions

What does come up roses mean?: To enter into a condition or situation which is favorable; to develop in a pleasing or advantageous manner.
Where does come up roses come from?: Coined by lyricist Stephen Sondheim for a song from the musical Gypsy (1959).

How to pronounce come up roses

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