straight-up

adjective

True; unambiguous; unqualified; plainly so, with no bones about it.

“I'm going to go get a straight-up cocktail.”

OriginMiddle English streight up →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivestraight-up (not comparable)
  1. colloquialnot comparableTrue; unambiguous; unqualified; plainly so, with no bones about it.

    From her recent comments, I think she's a straight-up racist.

    2 more examples

    Because it doesn’t actually produce anything, some knock Rockstar as a straight-up patent troll.

    2012 May 21, Robert McMillan, “How Apple and Microsoft Armed 4,000 Patent Warheads”, in Wired

    Want to smell like a straight-up snack on a budget? Try out one of #PerfumeTok's favorite scents with notes of milk chocolate, creamy vanilla, and soft musks.

    2024 October 8, Lauren Gruber, Megan Uy, “We Found Sooo Many Viral TikTok Items on Sale for October Prime Day”, in Cosmopolitan
  2. not comparableOf an alcoholic drink: served straight up.

    I'm going to go get a straight-up cocktail.

adverbstraight-up (not comparable)
  1. alternativenot comparableAlternative form of straight up.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishstreight up“straight, erect, not curved or crooked, direct, honest”
  2. Englishstraight-up

From Middle English streight up (“straight, erect, not curved or crooked, direct, honest”), equivalent to straight + up.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Spanish frío y / pero sin hielo
  • frío y / pero sin hielodrink
Cite this entry
APA

straight-up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/straight-up

MLA

“straight-up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/straight-up. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “straight-up,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/straight-up.

Source: straight-up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.