up to eleven
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up to eleven
- /ˌʌp tə ɪˈlɛvən/ UK
- /ˌʌp tə ɪˈlɛvən/ US
- /-əˈlɛvən/ US
Rhymes with -ɛvən
Where it comes from
PIE word
*h₁óynos
The term refers to a scene in the mockumentary This is Spinal Tap (1984), in which the character Nigel Tufnel, the lead guitarist of the band Spinal Tap, shows the director of the documentary Marty DiBergi a guitar amplifier with setting knobs that go from zero to eleven, rather than the standard zero to ten.
phrase up to 11
-
Up to or beyond the maximum possible threshold; to an extremely high or strong degree.
She and River looked at me hard; but I lowered my eyes and leaned forward, with the nonchalance turned up to eleven, extinguished my cigarette, made eye-contact and nodded curtly.
Similar: all the way, from soup to nuts, in excelsis, to the backbone, to the bone, to the brim, to the core, to the fullest, to the full, to the gills, to the gunnels, to the hilt
verb ups to eleven · upping to eleven · upped to eleven
- To increase (something) to an extremely high or strong degree; to make (something) go over the top.
Translations
Every language
prep_phrase (informal, chiefly humorous) up to or beyond the maximum possible threshold; to an extremely high or strong degree
| Español | extremo, máximo |
|---|
verb to increase (something) to an extremely high or strong degree
| Español | llevar al extremo |
|---|
Talk about this word "up to eleven." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/up%20to%20eleven. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. up to eleven. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/up%20to%20eleven "up to eleven." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/up%20to%20eleven.Cite this
@misc{up_to_eleven_2026,
title = {up to eleven},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/up%20to%20eleven},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
