uppity

adjective

up·​pi·​ty ˈə-pə-tē 

1

somewhat old-fashioned : putting on or marked by airs of superiority : arrogant, presumptuous

uppity technicians

a small uppity country

The truth is I am tired every afternoon and there's nothing to be done about it. It's the nature of the disease. A lot of people decide I am bored or indifferent or uppity but at a certain hour of the day my motor cuts off automatically.

—Flannery O'Connor

2

somewhat old-fashioned, disparaging + sometimes offensive; see usage paragraph below : aspiring to a rank or position higher than one deserves or is entitled to

In a seller's market for labor, it seems, there is a danger that the help will get uppity.

—Michael Lind

… a group of senior male executives referred to my staff of predominantly professional women as uppity.

—Marion E. Gold

We talked as long as I dared. She told me to reverse the charges. It was my call, I said. She laughed and said I was getting uppity. I described Mrs. Burgess, how working for her was hardly like being a servant.

—Paula Fox

Hagar, with child, despised her mistress and flaunted her pregnancy over her. … Sarah flew upon the uppity servant girl and drove her off into the desert.

—Joseph Heller

uppitiness noun

or less commonly uppityness

Usage of Uppity

The adjective uppity is an informal, somewhat old-fashioned word. When used to mean "arrogant" or "presumptuous," it is no more offensive than either of these synonyms. In its meaning of "aspiring to a rank or position higher than one deserves or is entitled to" it is decidedly disparaging, the implication of the word being that the one described does not deserve or is not entitled to rise in standing. Beyond this denotation, however, uppity has a long history of being applied to members of racial minorities and especially to Black people. Its association with such uses, and the bigotry they represent, means that when it is used to describe a member of a racial minority it is likely to be considered especially offensive.

Synonyms

• arrogant
• assumptive
• bumptious
• cavalier
• chesty
• haughty
• high-and-mighty
• high-handed
• high-hat
• highfalutin
• hifalutin
• huffish
• huffy
• imperious
• important
• lofty
• lordly
• masterful
• overweening
• peremptory
• pompous
• presuming
• presumptuous
• pretentious
• self-asserting
• self-assertive
• sniffy
• stiff-necked
• supercilious
• superior
• toplofty
• toploftical
• uppish

Examples of uppity in a Sentence

Don't get uppity with me.

uppity social climbers who were the biggest snobs in town

Recent Examples on the Web

Steve Fields serves lobster tails and filet mignon, but its proprietor likes to think of the restaurant as D-FW’s affordable steakhouse — a place that isn’t too uppity. —Dallas News, 2 Apr. 2022

There were some in the UK, and even on this side of the pond, who wanted the queen to assert her authority and slap down her presumptuous grandson and his uppity wife. —Kevin Cullen, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Jan. 2020

So was the mayor of Tomsk, his fate a warning to uppity regional politicians. —The Economist, 21 Dec. 2019

King Vajiralongkorn of Thailand stripped his official mistress of all her titles and honours for being too uppity. —The Economist, 24 Oct. 2019

Word History

Etymology

probably from up + -ity (as in persnickity, variant of persnickety)

First Known Use

1880, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

uppity

adjective

up·​pi·​ty ˈəp-ət-ē 

: acting as if better or more important than others : arrogant