burn up

verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"burn-up" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“burn up” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To catch fire and burn until destroyed.

Key facts for burn up
PropertyValue
Headwordburn up
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “burn up” sits in English frequency

burn up falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

burn up is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 8 senses are on record.

burn up has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From burn + up. Compare Middle English upbrennynge, upbrennende (“burning up”, present participle), German Low German upbrannen (“to burn up”). The correct English form is burn up, spelled B-U-R-N- -U-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    To catch fire and burn until destroyed.
  2. 2
    To destroy by burning.
  3. 3
    To anger; to annoy.
  4. 4
    To be angry or annoyed.
  5. 5
    To be or feel overly hot or inflamed.
  6. 6
    To be or feel overly hot or inflamed.
  7. 7
    To ride a motorcycle or other vehicle at high speed.
  8. 8
    To use up too much energy when first bowled and to therefore not finishing strongly.

Etymology

From burn + up. Compare Middle English upbrennynge, upbrennende (“burning up”, present participle), German Low German upbrannen (“to burn up”).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "burn up"?
"burn up" is spelled B-U-R-N- -U-P.
What does "burn up" mean?
As a verb, "burn up" means: To catch fire and burn until destroyed.
What is the origin of the word "burn up"?
From burn + up. Compare Middle English upbrennynge, upbrennende (“burning up”, present participle), German Low German upbrannen (“to burn up”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “burn up”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-U-R-N- -U-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list