whip up — whip up (emotion/feeling)
phrasal verbC1IELTS 7+neutraloccasional
to deliberately create or increase a strong feeling, especially excitement, anger, or fear, in a group of people
Say it like a native
Textbook The speaker deliberately incited fervour among the crowd.
Native The speaker whipped up the crowd.
'Whip up' is the punchy verb for stirring strong feeling in people; 'incited fervour' is formal.
Pattern: whip up + noun (emotion/feeling)
In use
- The politician tried to whip up anger among the crowd with his speech.communication
- In some cases, social media can whip up strong emotions, making it difficult for people to have calm discussions about controversial topics.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ He whipped up with anger in the crowd.
✓ He whipped up anger in the crowd.
'Whip up' takes the object directly — no 'with'.
Common collocations
whip up + feeling— support, anger, hysteria, the crowd
Don't confuse it
This sense is figurative and refers to creating or intensifying emotions in others, unlike the basic sense of 'whip up' meaning to quickly prepare food.