Meanings
present singular third person stands up for · participle present standing up for · participle past stood up for · past stood up for
- transitiveTo speak or act in support or defense of (a person, a cause, a belief, or the like).
Those who don't stand up for their rights are apt to lose them.
4 more examples
She stood up for me when no one else would, and I've never forgotten it.
Though I disagreed with him, I respected him for standing up for what he believed in.
2000 December 3, J. Stewart Burns, Futurama, episode 32: “The Cryonic Woman”, Michelle: Quit standing up for yourself, Fry. When we get back to the hole we are going to have a long, boring talk about our relationship!
Standing up for themselves is often difficult for girls from male-dominated cultures. Take Bahareh Husseini. She fled Iran and now lives in the German city of Düsseldorf. She wanted to study and be able determine her own path in life. In Germany, she found support at Diakonie, a Protestant social welfare organization. There, Jessica te Heesen heads the JUMP project, which helps refugee girls develop self-confidence, assert themselves, and find their way in school and at work. Bahareh is now studying medical physics — and passing on her experiences to others.
2026 February 2, “Strong Women - The Fight for Self-Determination”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 13 May 2026Synonyms: stick up for, defend
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo speak or act in support or defense of (a person, a cause, a belief, or the like).
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 擁護 /拥护, 挺身而出
- 擁護 /拥护 (yōnghù)to speak or act in support or defense of
- 挺身而出 (tǐngshēn'érchū)to speak or act in support or defense of
- 捍衛 /捍卫 (hànwèi)to speak or act in support or defense of
- 堅持 /坚持 (jiānchí)to speak or act in support or defense of
Dutch opkomen voor
- opkomen voorto speak or act in support or defense of
Finnish puolustaa
- puolustaato speak or act in support or defense of
German eintreten für, sich einsetzen für
- eintreten fürto speak or act in support or defense of
- sich einsetzen fürto speak or act in support or defense of
Hungarian kiáll
- kiállto speak or act in support or defense of
Polish stawać w obronie, stanął w obronie
- stawać w obronieto speak or act in support or defense of
- stanął w obronieto speak or act in support or defense of
Spanish romper una lanza por, romper lanzas por
- romper una lanza porto speak or act in support or defense of
- romper lanzas porto speak or act in support or defense of
- velar porto speak or act in support or defense of
- salir en defensa deto speak or act in support or defense of
- estar al quite deto speak or act in support or defense of
- estar a los quites deto speak or act in support or defense of
Swedish stå upp för
- stå upp förto speak or act in support or defense of
Tagalog manindigan
- manindiganto speak or act in support or defense of
Ukrainian відсто́ювати, відстоя́ти
- відсто́ювати (vidstójuvaty)to speak or act in support or defense of
- відстоя́ти (vidstojáty)to speak or act in support or defense of
- посто́яти (postójaty)to speak or act in support or defense of
Cite this entry
stand up for. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stand%20up%20for
“stand up for.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stand%20up%20for. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stand up for,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stand%20up%20for.
Source: stand up for on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.