Meaning & use
up your game
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformal
to improve your performance or effort in order to compete or succeed at a higher level.
Grammar: Used with a possessive adjective that matches the subject: I need to up my game, she upped her game.
Patterns
- up your game
- up one's game
- need to up your game
If you want to keep your place on the team, you'll have to up your game.
The company upped its game after losing several big customers.
She upped her game in the second half and scored twice.
Common combinations
- really up your game
- You'll need to really up your game if you want that promotion.
- up your game a notch
- The coach told them to up their game a notch before the finals.
- time to up your game
- It's time to up your game and start applying for better jobs.
- up your game in
- He upped his game in the last few minutes of the match.
Synonyms and how they differ
- step up
- More neutral and often means to take on more responsibility rather than to improve performance.
- raise your game
- Very similar in meaning and tone, but slightly more common in British English.
Practice
The team lost three games in a row, so the coach told the players they needed to ______.
Choose one answer.
The possessive must match the subject 'the players', so 'their' is correct. 'His' does not agree with a plural subject, 'your' would address the listener rather than the players, and 'our' would include the speaker.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “up your game”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.