phrasal verb · neutral
make up
/meɪk ˈʌp/MAKE·up
speaking
1) to invent (a story, excuse); 2) to reconcile after an argument; 3) to constitute or form part of something
Examples
“She made up an excuse for being late.”
“They argued but later made up.”
“Women make up 60% of the university students.”
Band 8 sentence
“I realised halfway through the story that she had made the whole thing up, probably to deflect attention from her mistake.”
Collocations
- make up a story
- make up with someone
- make up X% of something
Word family
make (v) verbmade (adj / v) adjective / verbmaking (n / v) noun / verb
Common mistakes
He make up a story.→He made up a story.
They make a peace.→They made up.
Say it for a higher band
5invent→6create→7+make up
Synonyms
invent
reconcile
Easily confused
make out
“I couldn't make out what she was saying because the music was so loud.”
Related words
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