speaking up
Making oneself heard
Speaking up is making your voice heard, especially when silence would be easier or safer.
You speak up when you raise your volume so others can hear, but more often the phrase means expressing an opinion or objection: She spoke up about the harassment she witnessed.
To speak up for someone is to advocate on their behalf.
The phrase implies some courage or effort—speaking up suggests overcoming reluctance or resistance.
- self-advocacyPromoting one's own interests
- assertivenessConfident self-expression quality
- whistleblowingExposing hidden wrongdoing internally
- self-expressionConveying one's inner world
- courageFortitude facing danger
raising your voice · voice · communication skills · dissent · chime in · breaking silence · shout · rhetoric · fortitude · accountability · empowerment · truth · confronting · authenticity · bravery · interrupting · objecting · protest
- candorfrankness, directness, bluntness, candor, straightforwardness
- self-advocacy skillsassertiveness, boundary setting, self-expression, asking for help, self-promotion
- assertivenessassertiveness, boldness, directness, firmness, confidence
- bold movesrisk, dare, gambit, leap, leap of faith
- interruptionsinterruption, cutting off, disruption, butting in, interjecting
- open communicationhonesty, trust, feedback, listening, dialogue
speaking upkeeping quiet
Remaining silent
keeping mum · saying nothing · holding back · shutting up · clamming up
speaking upshrinking back
Withdrawing from perceived threat
backing down · cowering · chickening out · going along · self-censoring
speaking uplooking the other way
Deliberately ignoring wrongdoing
turning a blind eye · standing by · enabling · covering up · keeping secrets
speak, speech, speaker, spoken, speechless, speaking, spoke, speaks, outspoken