Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Relatively large but unspecified in number.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective colloq. An indefinite number, usu. more than ten and less than one hundred; a lot. Often used hyperbolically, and usually expressing the notion of more than the usual number or more than I would like.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- determiner informal Relatively large but unspecified in number.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective innumerable but many
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word umpteen.
Examples
-
LäraBars come in umpteen flavors and also have a chocolate bar counterpart, Jŏcalat.
LäraBar, Gluten and Dairy-Free Energy Bars Steve Carper 2008
-
Or it might be an indication that Web companies are making the same "invest in umpteen businesses" mistake which leads to big losses when recession hits.
March 9th, 2006 2006
-
That's the first in umpteen decisions to make, before reaching the end.
-
That's the first in umpteen decisions to make, before reaching the end.
Archive 2006-01-01 2006
-
No one can do there best if they're being torn in umpteen directions after working for twelve hours. .sometimes more.
U.S. Medical costs 2004
-
We’re not meant to notice that what we’re looking at usually isn’t worth taking the trouble to watch because we’ve watched it a hundred times before in umpteen numbers of movies and TV shows.
-
We’re not meant to notice that what we’re looking at usually isn’t worth taking the trouble to watch because we’ve watched it a hundred times before in umpteen numbers of movies and TV shows.
Lance Mannion: 2010
-
If we signed up to these scaremongers, we could be about to waste a gargantuan amount of money on a problem that doesn’t exist – money that could be used in umpteen better ways: Fighting world hunger, providing clean water, developing alternative energy sources, improving our environment, creating jobs.
Think Progress » Earth’s temperature highest in 400 years. 2006
-
As an avid NPR listener, I recall hearing Nina Totenburg use this phrase umpteen times - even before September 11, 2001.
unknown title 2009
-
And the phones are ringing off the hook: A socialite demands a table already reserved by a VIP, and Chef demands she get it; a couple "request" that "The Lady Is a Tramp" be sung at their table to celebrate their wedding anniversary, an impossibility, but he is mafia; and then there is Naomi Campbell's frenzied assistant who calls umpteen times to modify their demands for their table of 15.
RutlandHerald.com 2009
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.