Word.ws English Dictionary

on the up-and-up

on the up-and-up adjective: legitimate; honest; upright.

Adjective

on the up-and-up

  1. (idiomatic, informal) Legitimate; honest; upright.
    • Before paying any money, make sure the organization is on the up-and-up.
    • You double-cross me, you son of a bitch. I bet English gave you a sawbuck so he could take her out and give her a jump, and you sit back there collecting fifty bucks from me becuss^([sic]) I'm sap enough to think you're on the up-and-up with me.1934, John O'Hara, Appointment in Samarra, published 2013, →ISBN, page 165
  2. (UK, idiomatic, informal) Becoming more successful; on the rise.

Synonyms of on the up-and-up

Forms of on the up-and-up

alternative formon the up and up

Origin of on the up-and-up

First use appears in the US c. 1863. Its exact origins are uncertain, but it is theorized to have originated in sports betting.

Questions about on the up-and-up

What does on the up-and-up mean?
On the up-and-up means legitimate; honest; upright.
What part of speech is on the up-and-up?
On the up-and-up is an adjective.

Words near on the up-and-up in the dictionary

  1. on the turf
  2. on the turn
  3. on the turps
  4. on the up
  5. on the up and up
  6. on the up-and-up
  7. on the uptake
  8. on the verge
  9. on the verge of
  10. on the viretot
  11. on the wagon

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on the up-and-up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-on the up-and-up.ogg.

Cite this entry: “on the up-and-up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_the_up-and-up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.