Word.ws English Dictionary

up to the mark

up to the mark prepositional phrase: possessing adequate knowledge or skill.

Prepositional phrase

  1. Possessing adequate knowledge or skill.
    • He is up to the mark in literature and the arts, in history, and in public affairs.2008, D. G. Mulcahy, The Educated Person: Toward a New Paradigm for Liberal Education, page 37
  2. Performing as expected or desired; on one's toes.
    • 'Do you mind if I just pop in for a wee moment, Roy?' she asked. 'I expect that it's Miss Barrowford gardening, and it will save me writing. G.F.S. business, you know.'
      'All right,' her husband replied. 'Only don't forget me and stay to supper.'
      'The idea! As if I ever—I'll catch you up—or won't...1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

Questions about up to the mark

What does up to the mark mean?
Up to the mark means possessing adequate knowledge or skill.
What part of speech is up to the mark?
Up to the mark is a prepositional phrase.

Words near up to the mark in the dictionary

  1. up to the chin
  2. up to the elbows
  3. up to the hammer
  4. up to the hub
  5. up to the knocker
  6. up to the mark
  7. up to the nines
  8. up to the tonsils
  9. up to time
  10. up top
  11. up until

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: up to the mark (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.

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