get someone's dander up

verb

"get-someone-s-dander-up" is a 19-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“get someone's dander up” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
23
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To anger or annoy someone.

Key facts for get someone's dander up
PropertyValue
Headwordget someone's dander up
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters23
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “get someone's dander up” sits in English frequency

get someone's dander 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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for get someone's dander up is 23 letters long, classified as a verb. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To anger or annoy someone.".

Zero misspellings are on record for get someone's dander up in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: US mid-19th century. Uncertain origin. The correct English form is get someone's dander up, spelled G-E-T- -S-O-M-E-O-N-E-'-S- -D-A-N-D-E-R- -U-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    To anger or annoy someone.

Etymology

US mid-19th century. Uncertain origin.

Synonyms

annoy and Thesaurus:enrage

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 "get someone's dander up"?
"get someone's dander up" is spelled G-E-T- -S-O-M-E-O-N-E-'-S- -D-A-N-D-E-R- -U-P.
What does "get someone's dander up" mean?
As a verb, "get someone's dander up" means: To anger or annoy someone.
What is the origin of the word "get someone's dander up"?
US mid-19th century. Uncertain origin. 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 “get someone's dander up”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is G-E-T- -S-O-M-E-O-N-E-'-S- -D-A-N-D-E-R- -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