as in intensified
to make markedly greater in measure or degree
candidates stepping up their campaigns as election day draws near stepped up the pace to catch up with the others
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Recent Examples of stepped up
During dinner, musician Malcolm McRae — who’s featured in Simkhai’s campaign imagery, and is also Anya Taylor-Joy’s husband — performed a song for the crowd, while Mia Moretti stepped up for DJ duty.
—
Kristen Tauer, Footwear News, 14 Feb. 2026
Under Moretti’s guidance, the foundation’s Cinema Godard movie theater (pictured above) has stepped up its screening series and onstage conversations with name directors including Alfonso Cuarón, Xavier Dolan, Luca Guadagnino, Werner Herzog, Jia Zhangke and Rebecca Zlotowski, to name a few.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
Federal regulators have stepped up enforcement of trucker licensing rules after a surge of deadly crashes involving non-domiciled drivers last summer.
—Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 12 Feb. 2026
Companies have stepped up share buybacks, unwound cross-shareholdings and focused more aggressively on return on equity, a shift encouraged by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 11 Feb. 2026
Brown confirmed the two seniors stepped up when the Vikings needed it.
—Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 7 Feb. 2026
Mamdani said outreach efforts are being stepped up, to include working with people who were formerly homeless themselves to help encourage those currently without homes to seek shelters.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 7 Feb. 2026
But so far, Darnold has stepped up and passed every test.
—Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2026
Senior center Serah Williams stepped up in the frontcourt with 11 points, four assists, three blocks and three rebounds in 21 minutes.
—Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2026
Kristen Tauer, Footwear News, 14 Feb. 2026
Under Moretti’s guidance, the foundation’s Cinema Godard movie theater (pictured above) has stepped up its screening series and onstage conversations with name directors including Alfonso Cuarón, Xavier Dolan, Luca Guadagnino, Werner Herzog, Jia Zhangke and Rebecca Zlotowski, to name a few.
—Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 13 Feb. 2026
Federal regulators have stepped up enforcement of trucker licensing rules after a surge of deadly crashes involving non-domiciled drivers last summer.
—Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 12 Feb. 2026
Companies have stepped up share buybacks, unwound cross-shareholdings and focused more aggressively on return on equity, a shift encouraged by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 11 Feb. 2026
Brown confirmed the two seniors stepped up when the Vikings needed it.
—Jeff Vorva, Chicago Tribune, 7 Feb. 2026
Mamdani said outreach efforts are being stepped up, to include working with people who were formerly homeless themselves to help encourage those currently without homes to seek shelters.
—Jesse Zanger, CBS News, 7 Feb. 2026
But so far, Darnold has stepped up and passed every test.
—Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2026
Senior center Serah Williams stepped up in the frontcourt with 11 points, four assists, three blocks and three rebounds in 21 minutes.
—Emily Adams, Hartford Courant, 7 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stepped up
Verb
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That’s somehow intensified by the fact that most of the people mentioned in the files, like Paul Weiss’ now-former chairman Brad Karp, aren’t really accused of anything specific.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
9 Feb. 2026
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After their first child was born 11 years ago, the imbalance intensified.—
Jelena Kecmanovic,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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How has being in love enhanced your artistic practice?—
Cierra Black,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Feb. 2026
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This investment ensures smaller class sizes, competitive pay for educators and staff (at least $20/hour), enhanced school safety and robust support for early childhood and higher education.—
Mary Ramsey,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
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And that's a good thing in a country where 129 million people face at least one major chronic illness and heightened risk of premature death, much of it from bad eating habits, said a senior policy adviser in the Obama White House and a private chef for the former first family.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
7 Feb. 2026
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The file dump has heightened scrutiny of Epstein’s global connections with public figures including Britain’s Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor - the younger brother of King Charles - Peter Mandelson, the former UK ambassador to the United States and Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit.—
Reuters 13 hr ago,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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As the give-and-take between Goldsworthy and the farmers of Penpont has deepened, the latter have become accustomed to the sight of the artist gathering wood or stones or fallen trees.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
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Guthrie’s disappearance, which police initially said was a missing person case, was odd from the beginning, and the mystery has only deepened with time.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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These traces of self-sufficiency only strengthened the couple’s determination to preserve the site’s history.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
8 Feb. 2026
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Gabe’s path into financial planning took shape through varied experiences that strengthened his understanding of complex systems and real-world decision-making.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA Today,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In addition to the 3,000 cases in federal court, around 500 separate cases against Uber have been consolidated in California state court.—
Clare Duffy,
CNN Money,
6 Feb. 2026
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San Jose Unified School District released a list of up to nine elementary schools that could be closed or consolidated next year in an effort to address years of declining student enrollment and budget constraints.—
Molly Gibbs,
Mercury News,
6 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Stepped up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stepped%20up. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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