what's up
"what-s-up" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“what's up” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - What’s the matter? What is the problem? What is wrong?
Corpus desk
Index EN-what-s-up · what's up · English
what's up · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" 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 | what's up |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “what's up” in English
Rare enough to double-check
what's up is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for what's up in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Popularized by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny as part of his catchphrase “Eh... What’s up, doc?”, as early as 1940. Originally a common greeting from Bugs Bunny creator Tex Avery's neighborhood in Taylor, Texas. The correct English form is what's up, spelled W-H-A-T-'-S- -U-P.
Definition
- 1What’s the matter? What is the problem? What is wrong?
- 2What's happening? What are you doing?
- 3A casual greeting with a meaning similar to hi or nice to meet you.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how what's up appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
You're looking a bit miserable. What's up?
I got a call saying to come straight away. What's up?
Etymology
Popularized by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny as part of his catchphrase “Eh... What’s up, doc?”, as early as 1940. Originally a common greeting from Bugs Bunny creator Tex Avery's neighborhood in Taylor, Texas.
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.