yup

Pluralyups

1. 1
   interjectioncolloquial

   A casual, informal way of saying yes.

   Yup, that's exactly what I was trying to tell you.

   When I asked if she had finished, she just said, "Yup."

   Similaryes, yeah, yep, sure

   Oppositeno, nah

2. 2
   nouncolloquialcountable

   An affirmative answer; a casual yes.

   His yup was all the confirmation we needed to move ahead.

   She answered every question with a firm yup and nothing more.

   Similaryes, yep, okay

   Oppositeno, nope

   Note

   The answer becomes a countable thing here: a yup, two yups, a question that can't be settled with a yup or a nope. The p comes from saying yeah and snapping the mouth shut at the end, the same closure behind yep, nope, welp and ope. As a noun it nearly always travels with nope, and Patrick F. McManus capitalizes the pair to sort hunters into Yups and Nopes.

3. 3
   noundatedabbreviationclipping

   Clipping of yuppie.

   The neighborhood filled with yups driving sleek German cars.

   He idled at a red light, saw two yups in matching cranberry crewnecks and khaki cargo shorts sitting on the pavement outside what used to be Primo's Pizza.

   2010, Dennis Lehane, Mystic River

   Note

   A second word that only shares the spelling. It is yuppie cut short, with no tie to the casual "yes". It keeps the longer word's edge, since yuppie is dated and sometimes derogatory. The short form also takes prefixes easily, as in Jeff Gordinier's X Saves the World (2008): indie yups, paleo-yups, luxe yups. In the plural, yups for people sits beside yups for answers, and the sentence tells you which is meant.

Showing meanings only. Show all 3