trumped-up
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of trumped-up
Explanation
Something that's trumped-up is faked or fabricated to use as an excuse. You might be tempted to tell your parents a trumped-up story about a mean math teacher to explain a bad grade. When you hear about someone being arrested on "trumped-up charges," that means that they've been falsely accused. There's a sense of exaggeration in this term, as well—if your excuse for being late is trumped-up, you're concocting extra details to make it sound more impressive. Trumped-up was first recorded in the early 18th century, and it comes from the idiomatic trump up, "devise deceitfully or dishonestly."
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.
But I am frustrated as a medical doctor that a complex issue like fertility—and the trumped-up threat of small penises and “population collapse”—was hijacked without scientific merit as the main argument against plastic.
From Slate ● Apr. 16, 2026
Mr. Lai has been in prison on trumped-up charges ever since.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025
Mark Li, 60, had been held in China since September 2016 on what activists say were trumped-up spying charges.
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2024
Instead, they were arrested on trumped-up obscenity charges and subjected to expensive litigation before the case against them was thrown out for lack of evidence.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
My ancestor's desire to join them led to trumped-up murder charges for which he was executed—or, anyway, that’s what my grandfather told me.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
