Uppity

//ˈʌpəti// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Presumptuous, above oneself, self-important; arrogant, snobbish, haughty.

    ""Hit wuz wunner dese yer uppity little Jack Sparrers, I speck," said the old man; "dey wuz allers bodder'n' longer udder fokes's bizness"

  2. 2
    Exceeding one's station or position, assuming prerogatives to which one is not entitled.

    "And the Yankees are very upset because so many uppity darkies have been killed recently."

Adjective
  1. 1
    presumptuously arrogant wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
overweeningairyarrogantarrogantaudaciousauthoritarian

Example

More examples

"I think of them as feisty rather than uppity."

Etymology

From earlier uppedy, equivalent to up + -ed + -y; compare blackity, biggity, and hippity (and possibly also persnickety, pernickety). First attested around 1880 in Uncle Remus by Joel Chandler Harris to describe Jack Sparrer (Jack Sparrow), who tattled on Br'er Rabbit (see quotations below). Compare uppish.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.