up in the air

Idioms and Phrases

Not settled, uncertain, as in The proposal to build a golf course next to the airport is still up in the air . This metaphoric expression likens something floating in the air to an unsettled matter. Put as in the air from the mid-1700s, it acquired up in the first half of the 1900s.

Example Sentences

Whether it will be a whisper-thin majority or a little more comfortable is still up in the air: Five seats have yet to be called, two of them in California.

From Los Angeles Times

"It’s all up in the air now," she tells the BBC.

From BBC

But how UC will pay for that growth is up in the air.

From Los Angeles Times

The party that will control the US House of Representatives - one of two chambers that makes up the United States Congress - remains up in the air.

From BBC

When asked if next week’s matchup against Narbonne was still on or up in the air, Gilbreath said the game “was not up in the air.”

From Los Angeles Times