How to Use one-up in a Sentence

one-up

verb

• Clearly, the 170 is about the numbers, and Dodge had to one-up the old Demon.
  — Eric Stafford, Car and Driver, 20 Mar. 2023
• On Princess Cruises’ 2026 world cruise, the line will one-up itself.
  — Nathan Diller, USA TODAY, 7 May 2024
• Well now, DeSantis has a new idea to one-up the House of Mouse: turn it into a big house.
  — Tori Otten, The New Republic, 18 Apr. 2023
• Only one thing left for the rookie lefty to do after Webb tossed one shutout and Snell one-upped him with a no-hitter.
  — Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 3 Aug. 2024
• But on Friday, DraftKings swooped in and offered to one-up the offer with a $195 million all-cash bid.
  — Aaron Pressman, BostonGlobe.com, 16 June 2023
• Leave it to method-dressing queen Margot Robbie to try and one-up her in a Mugler spring 1996 corset at the Oscars.
  — Alice Newbold, Vogue, 12 Mar. 2024
• Chance one-upped his fellow coach by also singing the song with Nadége onstage; the surprise move helped Chance persuade the singer to join his team.
  — USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2024
• All this results in a hotel that wows from the first impression and then one-ups itself at every turn.
  — Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 1 Jan. 2024
• All this results in a hotel that wows from the first impression and then one-ups itself at every turn.
  — Tribune News Service, Hartford Courant, 13 June 2024
• Alan Cumming is always looking to one-up himself — and not just with his fashion.
  — Patrick Gomez, EW.com, 13 June 2024
• But little did Pearson know, Key would one-up these references with an ad-lib.
  — Aaron Couch, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Oct. 2024
• No one was trying to one-up one another, as in the typical writers room.
  — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2023
• In Season 2, your ex-husband, played by Adam Scott, builds a rocket and attempts to go to space, sort of to impress his ex-wife but also to one-up her.
  — Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 12 July 2024
• The office environment will feel tense as everyone will be trying to one-up their peers to keep their jobs.
  — Jack Kelly, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2023
• But there's one thing that's more important to Blake: one-upping her hubby in their never-ending troll-fest.
  — Stephanie Sengwe, Peoplemag, 14 Feb. 2024
• Which brings us to this year’s Bruins, who were historically dominant to one-up that Lightning squad to the tune of 65 wins.
  — Amin Touri, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Apr. 2023
• But what started as mere jabs at the other’s height and hair soon became something more sinister as each rapper tried to one-up the other.
  — C. Isaiah Smalls Ii, Miami Herald, 9 May 2024
• These mitts are also waterproof, so your hands will stay safe if hot liquids splash onto your gloves, a one-up over fabric mitts.
  — Parker Hall, WIRED, 29 June 2023
• Shortstop Jorge Mateo also homered — one-upping Henderson with a 433-foot shot to left field for his first home run of the season.
  — Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun, 4 Apr. 2023
• The trend has been popular on social media, with TikTok users one-upping each other for who has gone the longest stretch with the fewest amenities.
  — Lilit Marcus, CNN, 28 June 2024
• Near the beginning of the series, Seok-ryu’s mother and Seung-hyo’s mother try to one-up each other by comparing their kids.
  — Regina Kim, Forbes, 21 Sep. 2024
• Be Consistent Parents often try to one-up each other after a split to win the kids’ affection.
  — Michelle Dempsey-Multack, Parents, 30 Jan. 2024
• But Muñoz isn’t the type to be complacent, and is always looking to one-upping his previous releases.
  — Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 1 Dec. 2023
• Beijing and Washington must avoid measures of success that are defined by slowing down or one-upping the other.
  — Jessica Chen Weiss, Foreign Affairs, 16 Sep. 2024
• But for Kansas officials, spending would at least leave Missouri and come to Kansas, and one-upping Missouri has its own allure.
  — Will Daniel, Fortune, 15 June 2024
• Of all of the new stuff in the Framework Laptop 16, this is also the part that most obviously one-ups the experience of opening up the original Framework Laptop.
  — Andrew Cunningham, Ars Technica, 29 Jan. 2024
• The brilliant final punchline, without giving much away, nicely one-ups the similar conclusion of The Prey (1983).
  — Declan Gallagher, EW.com, 13 Sep. 2024
• Some retailers and restaurants are one-upping each other on discounts.
  — Francisco Velasquez, Quartz, 27 May 2024
• Jeremiah can one-up his brother by purchasing a + Qu’hier - Que Demain necklace, a much subtler love token.
  — Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 4 Dec. 2023
• The giver of advice is one-up, superior in knowledge and, by virtue of exercising the right to tell the other what to do, also superior in rank.
  — Deborah Tannen, Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2016

Last Updated: 9 Jun 2024