Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

up to eleven

/ˌʌp tə ɪˈlɛvən/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.12 in modern English

Syllables: up- -to eleven
IPA: /ˌʌp tə ɪˈlɛvən/

15

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

prep_phrase

Up to or beyond the maximum possible threshold; to an extremely high or strong degree.

Humorous; Informal

verb

To increase (something) to an extremely high or strong degree; to make (something) go over the top.

Slang; Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"She and River looked at me hard; but I lowered my eyes and leaned forward, with the nonchalance turned up to eleven, extinguished my cigarette, made eye-contact and nodded curtly."
"But if we try to fly, especially carrying Zealand, we're going to be puking our guts out by the time we get all the way up there. Flying is like motion sickness turned up to eleven, […]"
"Oh, Lady Ebb, I'm up to eleven today after that last biscuit."
"It's the weekly half hour when the emotion is turned up to 11 but the atmosphere is so quietened that you can hear the dust clattering against the studio's lighting rig."
"As we reach the city today, rush hour has been turned up to eleven, so there's plenty of waiting in traffic."
"[W]hen you look at conditions, it's not all happy days down there. Well, maybe it's happier now. But what our textbook said? Was that they had, you know, torture parties there. Once. Where torturers get drunk and turn the dial up to eleven."

Etymology

PIE word *h₁óynos The term refers to a scene in the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap (1984), in which the character Nigel Tufnel, the lead guitarist of the band Spinal Tap, shows the director of the documentary Marty DiBergi a guitar amplifier with setting knobs that go from zero to eleven, rather than the standard zero to ten.

Word Breakdown

Root: *leyp-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌʌp tə ɪˈlɛvən/
British English: /ˌʌp tə ɪˈlɛvən/

Usage

Inflected Forms

up to 11 (alternative) ups to eleven (present, singular) upping to eleven (participle, present) upped to eleven (participle, past) upped to eleven (past)

Phrases

Spinal Tap-ian more at eleven

Frequently Paired Words

Spinal Tap-ian more at eleven

Synonyms

all the way from soup to nuts in excelsis to the backbone to the bone to the brim to the core to the fullest to the full to the gills to the gunnels to the hilt

Rhymes With

seven heaven kevin steven fifty-seven eleven devon evan heinz 57 leven leaven chevon

Questions

How do you pronounce up to eleven?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌʌp tə ɪˈlɛvən/.
What does up to eleven mean?: Up to or beyond the maximum possible threshold; to an extremely high or strong degree.
Where does up to eleven come from?: PIE word *h₁óynos The term refers to a scene in the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap (1984), in which the character Nigel Tufnel, the lead guitarist of the band Spinal Tap, shows the director of the documentary Marty DiBergi a guitar amplifier with setting knobs that go from zero to eleven, rather than the standard zero to ten.

How to pronounce up to eleven

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “up to eleven”.
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