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Synonyms

come up against

Idioms  

  1. Encounter, especially an obstacle or problem. For example, I've never come up against anything I can't handle, or Dealing with Malcolm is like coming up against a brick wall.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And you, my friend, have come up against a brick wall on the eve of your 73rd birthday, when your first RMD is due, and there’s no way around it.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 23, 2026

These activists have, perhaps inadvertently, come up against some very well-connected people.

From Slate • Jan. 30, 2026

"When you come up against a side that bats deep on a really good wicket, that's the way India have come out -- with intent from ball one," said Santner.

From Barron's • Jan. 23, 2026

That is the only group fixture which will see two teams ranked in the top 10 in the world come up against one another.

From BBC • Dec. 5, 2025

He wondered if there was some new rule for a minister’s son that he hadn’t come up against yet—if there could possibly be yet another rule that he hadn’t come up against already.

From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.