cracked up
Idioms-
Past tense of crack up .
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cracked up to be . Reputed to be. This expression is always used in a negative way, as in I don't think this book is all it's cracked up to be . It relies on the now obsolete use of to crack up to mean “to praise extravagantly.” It appeared in The Kentuckian : “He is not the thing he is cracked up for” (May 28, 1829). [Early 1800s]
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Under the influence of crack (a form of cocaine). For example, “Who's cracked up, who's cracked out, and who's dead?” ( World News Tonight , ABC-TV, May 12, 1992). [1980s]
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.
Perhaps being a nepo baby isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
There, Lightning gets to know the town’s colorful cars and discovers that glory isn’t all it’s cracked up to be if you have no one to enjoy it with.
From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026
Except it turns out to be much, much more than it’s cracked up to be.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
When he saw the result in the mirror, he cracked up: “Oh my God, I’m Geppetto. I look just like the Disney version.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2025
“For going around twice ?” “You gave one to Hungry Joe when he cracked up that airplane by mistake.”
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
