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

Now TGAA’s future, and Martinez de Vara’s role with the group, appear up in the air.

From Salon • May 3, 2026

“Hands up in the air, yelling,” head track coach Christian Dearborn recalled.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026

So the first quarter might be all right, but beyond that everything is up in the air.

From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026

It’s more like throwing the game board up in the air to see how it might come down.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Somkit hid it behind his back, as if Winya wouldn't notice a five-foot-long bamboo pole sticking up in the air.

From "A Wish in the Dark" by Christina Soontornvat