trump up

British  

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to concoct or invent (a charge, accusation, etc) so as to deceive or implicate someone

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trump up Idioms  

1. Concoct fraudulently, fabricate, as in They trumped up a charge of conspiracy, or She had trumped up another excuse for not doing the work. This expression, first recorded in 1695, uses trump in the sense of “devise fraudulently,” a usage otherwise obsolete.

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Example Sentences

Prosecutors have accused the defense of trying to turn the case into a trial on USC's admissions policies instead of whether the parents agreed to lie and trump up their kids' athletic credentials.

From Fox News • Sep. 8, 2021

“They did it ‘without cause’ so they wouldn’t be judged on what they tried to trump up on me,” Parker said.

From Washington Times • Aug. 19, 2020

“We don’t just trump up charges on people so that we can hold them,” Dunlap said, adding that he didn’t buy into stereotypes about immigrants.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 29, 2015

When the threatened businesses refused to accede to those demands, both accusers use the businesses’ actions to trump up the charges:

From Slate • Dec. 17, 2014

I tried to say something, to trump up an excuse; my mouth opened wide but no words came out.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

Related Words

• build up
• compose
• create
• design
• erect
• establish
• fashion
• forge
• form
• formulate
• found
• manufacture
• organize
• produce
• put up
• set up
• shape