Meaning & use
marked up
Last updated
“marked up” is a form of “mark up”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
to increase the price of something, especially in order to make a profit
Grammar: Takes an object: mark up the goods. Often used in the passive: the goods were marked up.
Patterns
- mark something up
- mark up something by an amount
- be marked up
The store marks up its electronics by about 30 percent.
The tickets were marked up on the resale website.
They marked the price up after the sale ended.
verbtransitive
to add notes, corrections, or comments to a text or document
Grammar: Takes an object: mark up the text. Often used in the passive: the text was marked up.
Patterns
- mark something up
- mark up something
- be marked up
The teacher marked up the essay with red pen.
The editor marked up the manuscript before sending it back.
The document was marked up with comments in the margin.
Word forms
| base form | mark up |
|---|---|
| third person singular | marks up |
| past tense | marked up |
| past participle | marked up |
| -ing form | marking up |
Common combinations
- mark up prices
- Some sellers mark up prices before a big sale.
- mark up a document
- She marked up the document with her suggestions.
- marked-up copy
- He gave me a marked-up copy of the report.
- mark up by 20 percent
- The shop marks up its clothing by 20 percent.
Synonyms and how they differ
- increase
- A general word for making something larger; 'mark up' is more specific and often used about prices for profit.
- annotate
- More formal and technical, used for adding notes to a text; 'mark up' is more everyday.
Opposites
Word family
- markup noun
- The amount added to the cost to get the selling price, or the act of adding notes.
Commonly confused: marked up or mark down?
marked up vs mark down
Means to lower a price or write less; the opposite of 'mark up'.
Practice
The retailer decided to ____ the products before the holiday season to increase profits.
Choose one answer.
'Mark up' means to raise the price, which fits the goal of increasing profits. 'Mark down' would lower the price, the opposite of what is needed. 'Mark out' and 'mark off' do not fit the meaning of raising prices.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “marked up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.