uptalk

[ uhp-tawk ]

noun

1. a rise in pitch at the end usually of a declarative sentence, especially if habitual: often represented in writing by a question mark as in

   Hi, I'm here to read the meter?

uptalk

/ ˈʌpˌtɔːk /

noun

1. a style of speech in which every sentence ends with a rising tone, as if the speaker is always asking a question

Word History and Origins

Origin of uptalk¹

First recorded in 1990–95; up- ( def ) + talk ( def ). Uptalk was first noted especially among teenage girls and young women, though it is used among the general population

Example Sentences

The girls look the same in short crop tops and jeans and sound the same, speaking with a TikTok dialect that includes a lot of “Hey, guys!” and uptalk, their voices rising in tone at the end of a thought.

From Seattle Times

Chandler phrased thoughts as if he were asking a question, a variation of rising uptalk.

From New York Times

They might tell you something about your own behavior that you aren’t aware of, for instance if your voice trails off at the end of a sentence, or if you “uptalk.”

From Washington Post

But there's another equally hated speech feature that is achieved at the other end: the high-rising terminal intonation pattern, or "uptalk."

From Salon

When I described “What Is a Question?” to my girlfriend, “Emily,” she responded that young women are often mocked for speaking in “uptalk”—that is, for inflecting their speech so that statements sound like questions.

From Scientific American