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.
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 Since the start of the war in Ukraine, a growing number of Russian citizens has been arrested on trumped up charges and later accused of crimes, such as treason, that would justify a more serious sentence. Francesca Mastruzzo (tr. Elettra Pauletto), The Dial, 14 Jan. 2024 Some of those on sent to the island, had been arrested on trumped up charges, or false accusations aimed at settling old scores, while the prison population also included hardened criminals. Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 3 Dec. 2024 In announcing the pardon, the president essentially claimed—without acknowledging the irony in his words—that the charges against this son were somehow trumped up by his own Justice Department. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 2 Dec. 2024 Whelan had been held for more than five years by Russian authorities on what his family and the U.S. government insisted were trumped up charges of espionage. Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press, 1 Aug. 2024

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

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Cite this Entry

“Trump up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trump%20up. Accessed 1 Mar. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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