turn up

verb

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

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

The verdict

“turn 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 September 3, 2026) - To show up; to appear suddenly or unexpectedly.

Corpus desk

Index EN-turn-up · turn up · English

turn up · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" 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.

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

Long-tail rank of “turn up” in English

turn upfalls 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

turn up is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for turn up, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is turn up, spelled T-U-R-N- -U-P.

Definition

  1. 1
    To show up; to appear suddenly or unexpectedly.
  2. 2
    To cause to appear; to find by searching, etc.
  3. 3
    To increase the amount of something by means of a control, such as the volume, heat, or light.
  4. 4
    To reposition by rotating, flipping, etc., upwards.
  5. 5
    To belay or make fast (a line on a cleat or pin).
  6. 6
    To party hard, especially when involving alcohol or drugs.
  7. 7
    To acquit.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how turn up appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Is this your t-shirt that turned up in my drawer?
  2. I don't like people turning up without an appointment.

Antonyms

turn down

This word in other languages

aparecer(Español)arriver(Français)aufkreuzen(Deutsch)aparecer(Português)

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 "turn up"?
"turn up" is spelled T-U-R-N- -U-P.
What does "turn up" mean?
As a verb, "turn up" means: To show up; to appear suddenly or unexpectedly.
What language does "turn up" come from?
"turn up" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list