Meanings
alternative up a creek · alternative up a creek without a paddle · alternative up the creek without a paddle
- idiomaticIn trouble; in a difficult situation.
We'll be up the creek if we lose those files, so we should back them up regularly.
1 more example
“Then we would be up the creek. You can be extradited for grand larceny. Jez you wouldnt^([sic]) have me goin^([sic]) round with dark glasses and false whiskers all my life.”
1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, 3rd section, page 306Synonyms: up shit creek
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseIn trouble; in a difficult situation.
Origin
American English.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
up the creek. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20the%20creek
“up the creek.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20the%20creek. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “up the creek,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20the%20creek.
Source: up the creek on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.