up in the air

Idioms  

1. Not settled, uncertain, as in The proposal to build a golf course next to the airport is still up in the air. This metaphoric expression likens something floating in the air to an unsettled matter. Put as in the air from the mid-1700s, it acquired up in the first half of the 1900s.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

up in the air

“I don’t know, we’ll see. It’s up in the air, but it’s lovely to think about.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

“A lot is up in the air right now,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

She scoops an unamused cat up in the air and, with the first sign of emotion, says, “I love you.”

From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026

Whether the deal signed in Geneva this week leads to a final agreement is up in the air.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

With each dip and plunge of the boat, Worsley swooped the pot up in the air lest their precious hoosh go slopping into the bilges.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong