het up

English

Etymology

Variant of heated up.

Adjective

het up (comparative more het up, superlative most het up)

1. (colloquial) Excited or agitated; heated up.

   Try to keep your cool and not get het up.

   • 1914 October – 1916 July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Mucker, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., published 31 October 1921, →OCLC:

     "I reckon," he said, directing his remarks toward no one in particular, "that we've all been rather hasty in this matter, being het up as we were with the strain of what we been through an' so it seems to me, […]

   • 1932, Delos W. Lovelace, King Kong, published 1965, page 62:

     ‘What ever happened ashore to get that cold old turtle so het up?’ he demanded.

   • 2021, John H. McWhorter, chapter 6, in Woke Racism, New York: Forum, →ISBN:

     We must do an end run around these people, not make the mistake of thinking they are just “het up” or have wended a few yards into a wrong turn.