made-up

adjective

ˈmād-ˈəp 

1

: fully manufactured

2

: marked by the use of makeup

3

: fancifully conceived or falsely devised

Synonyms

• chimerical
• chimeric
• fabulous
• fanciful
• fantasied
• fantastic
• fantastical
• fictional
• fictitious
• ideal
• imaginal
• imaginary
• imagined
• invented
• make-believe
• mythical
• mythic
• notional
• phantasmal
• phantasmic
• phantom
• pretend
• unreal
• visionary

Examples of made-up in a Sentence

the bogeyman was one of those made-up monsters whose sole purpose was to threaten children

Recent Examples on the Web

Canons are as made-up as the stories that are part of them, so Dark Forces still has value as part of an old continuity that remains fun and quite wacky at times. —Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 7 Mar. 2025

To answer these questions, a group of 15 participants made-up of university students, recent graduates, and young adults, played the four online games mentioned—Valorant, Counter-Strike 2, Overwatch 2, and Fortnite. —Mia Taylor, Parents, 16 Jan. 2025

Telling lies to appease a user even if a false or made-up answer is provided. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 16 Sep. 2024

But to pursue a state of purity—even a fictional one; even a made-up, obviously impure one—still feels righteous. —Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 26 Aug. 2024

Not long after that, the reader’s manager started reprimanding Autumn Leaves 523 for humming, misdirecting a package, and other minor or made-up infractions. —Karla Miller, Washington Post, 11 Apr. 2024

Her mother Dee Dee Blanchard lived with Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which parents or caregivers seek sympathy through the exaggerated or made-up illnesses of their children. —Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2023

Under the visage of the monster he was made-up to be, shined the kindest of spirits. —Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 14 Dec. 2023

Clad in a bright matching jumpsuit, blonde hair wrapped delicately in a chic scarf and face made-up proper, donning oversized sunglasses, her charisma is on full display. —Holly Jones, Variety, 15 Oct. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1725, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for made-up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup

Kids Definition

made-up

adjective

ˈmā-ˈdəp

1

: created from the imagination

a made-up story

2

: marked by the use of makeup

made-up eyelids