made-up
Americanadjective
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concocted; falsely fabricated or invented.
a made-up story.
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being in makeup; wearing facial cosmetics.
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put together; finished.
adjective
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invented; fictional
a made-up story
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wearing make-up
a well made-up woman
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put together; assembled
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(of a road) surfaced with asphalt, concrete, etc
Etymology
Origin of made-up
First recorded in 1600–10
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.
“The Odyssey” is a made-up story, and the characters of a made-up story can look however we want them to.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Meloni has said his comments were entirely "made-up", and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has cancelled a trip to the US early next week.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Talarico might as well throw some weird made-up insinuations at Paxton to keep up.
From Slate ● May 30, 2026
Slop shows up as a made-up citation in a legal filing.
From Barron's ● May 6, 2026
Now, what’s a “play-pretty”? As if it’s not hard enough figuring out real stuff, I have to figure out the meanings of made-up words!
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
