shape up
"shape-up" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shape 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
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To improve; to correct one's bad habits or behavior.
Corpus desk
Index EN-shape-up · shape up · English
shape up · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | shape up |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “shape up” in English
Rare enough to double-check
shape up is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for shape up in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is shape up, spelled S-H-A-P-E- -U-P.
Definition
- 1To improve; to correct one's bad habits or behavior.
- 2To take shape; to transform into or become.
- 3To gesture or posture threateningly; to approach as if to fight; to pose to intimidate.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how shape up appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He'd better shape up soon, or he'll fail the class.
You better shape up 'Cause I need a man And my heart is set on you
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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.