worked-up
adjective
worked-up
American
[wurkt-uhp]
/ ˈwɜrktˈʌp /
Or
worked up,
adjective
worked up
British
adjective
Etymology
Origin of worked-up
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
See Examples For:
By the same token, a lot of people who are super worked-up about "cancel culture" are also isolated and anxious about being left behind in a changing world.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2022
One shows McKeller’s recognizably African American head in meager outline transformed on the same sheet of paper into a more worked-up head of Apollo, based on a plaster cast of the Apollo Belvedere.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 5, 2020
It’s also very effective at lulling a worked-up child into relaxation, especially at bedtime.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2019
When you find yourself mansplaining the term “mansplaining” to a worked-up faction of Twitter on a Sunday evening, you can assume you’re not getting the best out of your leisure time.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2019
A Greek dramatist would probably have had recourse to a long and elaborately worked-up "messenger-speech," a pathetic recitation.
From Play-Making A Manual of Craftsmanship by Archer, William
"It's surely going to keep shaking. I'm going to stay calm; I'm not going to get worked up about the breathing issue."
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Valerie Fridland, a linguistics professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, says that while the study was well done, more data should be collected over time before we get too worked up about it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
But thousands of men were pouring into Redding to build the dam — a 602-foot concrete behemoth that irrigates millions of acres of Central Valley farmland — and they sure worked up an appetite.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
Together, they worked up the proposal for Safe Outdoor Spaces, aimed at allowing managed, secure areas for people to pitch tents in vacant lots to reduce illegal encampments.
From Slate ● Mar. 25, 2026
Much like tonight, he had felt too worked up to sleep, and despite the late hour he had slipped quietly out of bed and crept down to Mr. Benedict’s study.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
