umpteen
Americanadjective
determiner
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of umpteen
1915–20; ump(ty) , fanciful designation for an indeterminate number (with -ty as in twenty, etc.) + -teen
Explanation
Use this informal word when you want to emphasize a large but vague quantity. If you get umpteen text messages from your friend reminding you to return the sweatshirt you borrowed, you know she really wants it back. Use umpteen when you have so many of something that it's not even worth counting them. It's kind of like saying "a zillion." If the smell of your dirty gym clothes is wafting into the hallway, your parents might complain, "We have told you umpteen times to clean up your room!" Umpteen started as World War I Army slang, from umpty which means either "of an indefinite number" or "dash" in Morse code.
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.
It blossomed with her friends and umpteen pen pals and reached full flower at the Malibu Cinema, the movie theater that she and her husband operated for two decades in the heart of Malibu.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2025
Of course there were umpteen great reasons why Dietz would be so excited at the prospect of Ryan overseeing the adaptation, which has since been retitled “What Happens Later.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
I mean, I didn't even know what a Kardashian was for umpteen years, and I led a blessed existence until someone finally, I said, "What's a Kardashian?"
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2023
But after what felt like umpteen delays, pitch inspections and warm-ups, the game eventually restarted in front of a patient home crowd that stuck with their team every step of the way.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2023
I’d been through this umpteen times before but it never gets any easier.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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.
