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• shake-up
  shake-up

  noun

  a thorough change in a business, department, or the like, as by dismissals, demotions, etc.
• shake up
  shake up

  verb

  to shake or agitate in order to mix

shake-up

American  

[sheyk-uhp] / ˈʃeɪkˌʌp /

noun

1. a thorough change in a business, department, or the like, as by dismissals, demotions, etc.

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shake up British  

verb

1. to shake or agitate in order to mix

2. to reorganize drastically

3. to stir or rouse

4. to restore the shape of (a pillow, cushion, etc)

5. informal to disturb or shock mentally or physically

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noun

1. informal a radical or drastic reorganization

shake up Idioms  

1. Agitate in order to mix or loosen, as in This cough medicine needs to be thoroughly shaken up , or Please shake up these pillows .

2. Upset greatly, as in Even though no one was hurt, he was greatly shaken up by the accident . This usage alludes to being agitated like a liquid being shaken. Also see all shook up . [Late 1800s]

3. Subject to drastic rearrangement or reorganization, as in New management was bent on shaking up each division .

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Etymology

Origin of shake-up

First recorded in 1900–05; noun use of verb phrase shake up

Explanation

A shake-up is a major change or upheaval. If there's a shake-up on your soccer team, you might suddenly find yourself playing midfield instead of your usual position defending the goal. Whenever there's reorganization at a company, especially if lots of people lose their jobs, it's described as a shake-up. You can use this word for any similarly drastic change, like a shake-up in your morning routine after your family gets a new puppy that needs to be walked for an hour, or a shake-up in government after a major election.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shake-up shake up

Last week, Google announced a dramatic management shake-up at DeepMind, its AI research unit, that saw Hassabis step down as CEO to be replaced by his deputy, Koray Kavukcuoglu.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

That would be a big shake-up for an industry that hasn’t historically seen a rapid market-share shift.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

On paying for the wider shake-up of the system, he said he wanted to extract more from existing budgets "before we talk about tax rises".

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Douthat is the first full-time correspondent named to the venerable CBS News magazine program since it underwent a massive shake-up last spring.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

No. Had a devil of a shake-up, though.

From 'Tween Snow and Fire A Tale of the Last Kafir War by Bertram Mitford

Roberts wasn’t ready to shake up bullpen roles based on what he saw.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

Wood reshuffled his management team, making Howard Stoeckel, who’d later succeed him as CEO, vice president of marketing, and empowering him to shake up the inside of Wawa’s stores.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

And the Scottish government doesn't want to shake up councils north of the border.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

JPMorgan, Bank of America and other banks explore a deal to shake up the payments world.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

What certainly went on the Harlem and Roxbury wires was that Detroit Red was going crazy in stir, or else he was trying some hype to shake up the warden’s office.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Related Words

• disturb
• reorganize
• shock