build up — praise or promote
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+neutraloccasional
To talk about someone or something in a very positive way to make them seem important or impressive.
Say it like a native
Textbook The reviews excessively extolled the film prior to its release.
Native The reviews built it up so much.
'Excessively extolled prior to release' is formal; 'built it up' is the natural, slightly wry verb.
Pattern: build (someone/something) up
In use
- The manager really built up the new project in the meeting.communication
- Sometimes, companies build up their products to attract more customers.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ They built up it too much.
✓ They built it up too much.
With a pronoun, the object goes in the middle: 'build it up'.
Common collocations
build up + hype— it up, too much, the hype, so much
Don't confuse it
Not the same as 'show off', which means to display oneself, not to praise others.
Related
- build up (increase gradually) — Another meaning of 'build up' is 'increase gradually'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.