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.
A sprinkle of heavenly magic, and Arj can be taught a valuable lesson—by trading places with Jeff and finding out that wealth isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 16, 2025
"I just cracked up laughing of course, because that's what any woman would want to hear, but it's our life, so it's pretty wonderful. He was a man of his word."
From BBC • May 11, 2025
Suddenly aware of her powers, she cracked up.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2024
“That was a small sample. Everybody is getting so cracked up about Vegas, keep bringing up Vegas. It was two games. We took care of that business … but that was really just two games.”
From Seattle Times • Jan. 5, 2024
She cracked up through her crying and said, “Thanks.”
From "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" by Jonathan Safran Foer
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.
