Uptalking

//ˈʌptɔːkɪŋ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of uptalking. uncountable

    "It's worth noting, too, that typical interpretation of uptalking – that the speaker is indicating doubt about their assertion – is inaccurate. While this is one function of uptalking, when performed by someone with less discursive power towards someone with more discursive power, uptalking also functions to let the hearer know that the speaker would like the hearer's input. This is what happens when speakers with more discursive power uptalk to hearers with less discursive power."

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of uptalk. form-of, gerund, participle, present

Example

More examples

"It's worth noting, too, that typical interpretation of uptalking – that the speaker is indicating doubt about their assertion – is inaccurate. While this is one function of uptalking, when performed by someone with less discursive power towards someone with more discursive power, uptalking also functions to let the hearer know that the speaker would like the hearer's input. This is what happens when speakers with more discursive power uptalk to hearers with less discursive power."

Etymology

From uptalk + -ing.

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