as in worried
feeling or showing uncomfortable feelings of uncertainty
it won't do you any good to get all het up before the tryouts and lose sleep
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of het up
As for the airport tray aesthetic, while people might be getting het up at the idea of Gen Z holding up the line for some navel-gazing, the US Transport Security Administration is sanguine about the risk.
—
Maureen O'Hare, CNN, 8 Sep. 2024
So why has the Chanel version gotten people so het up?
—New York Times, 6 Dec. 2021
Something about unfolding Bennifer events, this rekindling of an old flame, has got all of us het up.
—Raven Smith, Vogue, 16 June 2021
In a normal December, people would be more concerned with the holidays and a busy schedule and wouldn't get this het up with Congress.
—Arkansas Online, 28 Dec. 2020
Cultural appropriation is one of the issues that gets hft most het up.
—Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2020
Looking at the schedule for London, which kicks off tomorrow, there’s a pretty meaningful amount of exciting menswear action to get het up about.
—Luke Leitch, Vogue, 3 Jan. 2019
Open to charges of sacrilege, though interestingly the digital watchdogs of this world seemed too busy picking their collective jaws up off the floor in amazement to get het up about it.
—New York Times, 8 May 2018
Maureen O'Hare, CNN, 8 Sep. 2024
So why has the Chanel version gotten people so het up?
—New York Times, 6 Dec. 2021
Something about unfolding Bennifer events, this rekindling of an old flame, has got all of us het up.
—Raven Smith, Vogue, 16 June 2021
In a normal December, people would be more concerned with the holidays and a busy schedule and wouldn't get this het up with Congress.
—Arkansas Online, 28 Dec. 2020
Cultural appropriation is one of the issues that gets hft most het up.
—Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2020
Looking at the schedule for London, which kicks off tomorrow, there’s a pretty meaningful amount of exciting menswear action to get het up about.
—Luke Leitch, Vogue, 3 Jan. 2019
Open to charges of sacrilege, though interestingly the digital watchdogs of this world seemed too busy picking their collective jaws up off the floor in amazement to get het up about it.
—New York Times, 8 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for het up
Adjective
-
However, because the pool was shallow, Lisberg was less worried.—
Raven Brunner,
People.com,
25 May 2025
-
While Herzig is hoping to win a million dollars, his guests are all worried about their own various fantasy teams, mostly competing for a few hundred bucks.—
David Hill,
Rolling Stone,
24 May 2025
Adjective
-
When the Eaton and Palisades fires sparked in January — respectively the second- and third-most destructive in California history — familiarity, friend groups and routines were upset for Emory and many of her peers.—
Emma Bowman,
NPR,
2 June 2025
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Local fans were also upset at how ticketing was organised, with empty seats in temporary stands at their Montilivi ground for most games.—
The Athletic UK Staff,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
Adjective
-
In the novel’s historical re-creation, is there an anxious note to Americans now losing themselves in accommodation?—
David Denby,
New Yorker,
23 May 2025
-
Some anxious fans waited eight hours then to get close to the attraction’s Hogwarts Castle.—
Dewayne Bevil,
The Orlando Sentinel,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
The price of gold tends to move when markets get nervous – and so does the gold.—
Ken Roberts,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
-
It should also be noted that Demings is more than a little nervous right now about making any public promises about helping to finance a baseball stadium.—
Mike Bianchi,
The Orlando Sentinel,
22 May 2025
Adjective
-
In addition to making people feel ill at ease and exacerbating respiratory illnesses, the wind, combined with dry conditions, has elevated the fire risk across Texas.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 Mar. 2025
-
Kennedy gave a rather general and broad-based answer, and perhaps more problematically appeared ill at ease with the question.—
Niall Stanage,
The Hill,
29 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
In the wake of multiple plane crashes, and amid erratic federal policies and denials and detentions at border crossings, summer travel in the U.S. is in an uneasy state.—
Kevinisha Walker,
Los Angeles Times,
2 June 2025
-
To the south, there’s the United Arab Emirates, where again, there has been an uneasy relationship at times.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
But behind the chants and cheering lies a troubled past.—
Tomás Hill López-Menchero,
New York Times,
31 May 2025
-
Set on the fictional New England island of New Penzance in the 1960s, Sam (Jared Gilman), an emotionally disturbed orphan, and Suzy (Kara Hayward), a sophisticated, yet troubled girl in the vein of Margot Tenenbaum, long to grow up and get away from the chaos that surrounds them.—
Shannon Carlin,
Time,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Het up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/het%20up. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
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