trump up

verb

trumped up; trumping up; trumps up

transitive verb

1
: to concoct especially with intent to deceive : fabricate, invent
2
archaic : to cite as support for an action or claim

Examples of trump up in a Sentence

parents who were always trumping up little projects for their children to do around the house
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Activist groups say the charges against him were trumped up. Gabe Levin, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2025 Yes, his relationship with alcohol seems to be not great and complicated, but these charges still seem trumped up to me. Brian Moylan, Vulture, 11 June 2025 In their response, Petrova’s attorneys accused the government of trumping up criminal charges in a bid to prevent her bail and motions from being heard in federal court. Lauren Mascarenhas, CNN Money, 28 May 2025 And, while the charges were most likely trumped up, the city’s leaders were correct about one thing: Young people are highly suggestible. Patricia Schultheis, Baltimore Sun, 11 May 2025 The work was banned by the Malian Ministry of Culture and Cissé was arrested and jailed on trumped up charges of accepting French funding. Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 20 Feb. 2025 Human rights groups and some Western countries have accused Iran of trying to win concessions from other nations through arrests on security charges that may have been trumped up. Fox News, 19 Feb. 2025 The Pennsylvania native was sentenced to 14 years on a drug smuggling charge that his family has said was trumped up, and the U.S. had called for his humanitarian release. Michelle Stoddart, ABC News, 11 Feb. 2025 In the stage show, set in Argentina in 1983, political prisoner Valentín Arregui is transferred to a cell already occupied by Luis Molina, a gay window dresser convicted on trumped up charges of public indecency. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1695, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of trump up was in 1695

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Trump up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trump%20up. Accessed 28 Jun. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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