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
But the veil mercifully returned, and with it Dick's worked-up sense of injury.
From The Three Partners by Bret Harte
Which is why I have trouble getting particularly worked up about the expensive-sauce aisle.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
You, very understandably, are worked up about how much food is ordered and goes untouched.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 17, 2026
Hardly anyone outside Los Angeles has noticed, and hardly anyone in Los Angeles has gotten all worked up about it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Burnham the mayor has beaten the drum for the new Liverpool-Manchester Northern Powerhouse Rail and the high speed Manchester-Birmingham line he worked up with former West Midlands Mayor Andy Street.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Imam Malik advised me to go first when I’m speaking in public, so I have less time to get worked up about it.
From "Amina's Song" by Hena Khan
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.
