Standard Lemma guide

pent-up

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /pɛnt ʌp/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Not expressed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • He punched his pillow and screamed at the top of his lungs about all the pent-up frustrations from the day.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

characterized by or showing the suppression of impulses or emotions

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • her severe upbringing had left her inhibited
  • a very inhibited young man, anxious and ill at ease
  • their reactions were partly the product of pent-up emotions
  • repressed rage turned his face scarlet

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: repressed

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From pent + up.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Dutch: onderdrukt — not expressed
  • Dutch: onuitgesproken — not expressed
  • Polish: niewypowiedziany — not expressed
  • Serbo-Croatian: prigušen — not expressed
  • Serbo-Croatian: zatomljen — not expressed
  • Dutch: onderdrukt — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Esperanto: subpremita — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • French: refoulé — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Polish: zdławiony — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Polish: stłumiony — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Polish: tłumiony — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Polish: powstrzymywany — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Russian: подавленный (podavlennyj) — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Russian: сдерживаемый (sderživajemyj) — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Serbo-Croatian: zatomljen — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Serbo-Croatian: potisnut — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Spanish: contenido — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Spanish: reprimido — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Spanish: acumulado — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses
  • Spanish: acrecido — repressed or suppressed, especially of emotions or impulses