upspeak

verb, noun — 3 senses

upspeak

verb

/ʌpˈspiːk/

Etymology From up- + speak.

To speak up; advocate.

"Well, if I didn't stay in your home," upspoke the maiden lady, "I shouldn't care to know what it would become."1921, Wallace Irwin, Seed of the sun:

Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences Ambitransitive To speak with upspeak; uptalk.

Derived terms: upspeaker

upspeak

noun

/ˈʌpspiːk/

Etymology From up- + speak.

Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences A manner of speaking in which the intonation of one's voice rises at the end of a statement, as if expressing uncertainty or asking a question; uptalk.

[...] the nurse answers in upspeak. “You can work on it only if you're supervised.” Even the Oil of Olay moisturizer is confiscated. “It's in a glass jar?” Upspeak again.2012, Elizabeth Flock, But Inside I'm Screaming:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.