What does "uptalk" mean?

Speech that has a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; upspeak.

What is a synonym for "uptalk"?

Common synonyms include: upspeak, upspeak.

//ˈʌptɔːk// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Speech that has a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; upspeak. uncountable
"The sorority members' own interpretation of uptalk was that it was a way of being inclusive."

Verb

1
To speak with a rising intonation at the end of a sentence, as if it were a question; to upspeak. intransitive
"I asked the girl what she wanted. "Um, an apple martini?" she uptalked. / "I can do one," I said, "but you'll regret it." Our apple juice was disgusting and the apples we kept in stock weren't even the right kind."

"The sorority members' own interpretation of uptalk was that it was a way of being inclusive."

From up- + talk.

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