Standup has two meanings. In comedy it is a solo comedian performing live. In Agile workplaces it is a short daily team meeting where everyone literally stands so the meeting stays brief. If your kid mentions a standup in a work context they are talking about a 15-minute morning check-in. Not concerning. Adjective form: a "standup guy" means honourable, reliable; old slang but still in use.
standup
A short daily meeting — classically 15 minutes, standing up so nobody gets comfortable — where each person shares what they did yesterday, what they're doing today, and what's blocking them.
ˈstænd.ʌpDocumented since 1990s1990sMillennialhistoricalCurrent370 viewsLast reviewed Jun 29, 2026＋ Add a definition
Seen in the wild
3 citations · last seen May 2026
Etymology timeline
Born ~1990 · 1 year of recorded useMillennial / early-internet eraSee decade cohort →
Seen in the wild
BlueskyMay 2026
weekly standup vs weekly bendover
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BlueskyMay 2026
Yesterday I decorated the office for May the Fourth. Someone relocated the Kylo Ren standup to the bathroom, where you don't see him until you sit down. Today, Kylo is decorated for Cinco de Mayo!
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BlueskyMay 2026
[im pacing back and forth like a standup comedian building a joke] social media
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Wikipedia: Standup paddleboarding
Standup paddleboarding, stand-up paddleboarding or stand up paddle (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii.
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Wikipedia: Standup paddleboarding
Standup paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water.
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Definitions
Global
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#1·Apr 24, 2026Global
A short daily meeting — classically 15 minutes, standing up so nobody gets comfortable — where each person shares what they did yesterday, what they're doing today, and what's blocking them.
"Standup at 10 — don't be late or you're the status update."
Origin: Modern corporate / Agile / HR vocabulary.
For parents
Standup has two meanings. In comedy it is a solo comedian performing live. In Agile workplaces it is a short daily team meeting where everyone literally stands so the meeting stays brief. If your kid mentions a standup in a work context they are talking about a 15-minute morning check-in. Not concerning. Adjective form: a "standup guy" means honourable, reliable; old slang but still in use.
For ESL learners
Standup has three senses to learn. (1) Standup comedy: a solo comic routine. (2) A daily standup meeting in tech and project teams. (3) A standup guy meaning an honest, reliable man (older idiom). In writing, hyphenate as "stand-up" in British English. The common mistake is using "standup" as a verb. The verb is two words: "stand up." The single-word form is a noun or adjective only.
Heard in the wild
“weekly standup vs weekly bendover”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Yesterday I decorated the office for May the Fourth. Someone relocated the Kylo Ren standup to the bathroom, where you don't see him until you sit down. Today, Kylo is decorated for Cinco de Mayo!”
— Bluesky· May 2026“[im pacing back and forth like a standup comedian building a joke] social media”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Standup paddleboarding, stand-up paddleboarding or stand up paddle (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii.”
“Standup paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water.”
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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💼About Corporate & Work slang
Office-speak decoded — the corporate euphemisms, Agile rituals, and HR buzzwords you'll hear in every standup, retro, and performance review.
See all Corporate & Work slang on Slangora.
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Other words near "standup" (S)
standard of identitystand-by-bedstandfirststandgalestand on businessstand padstandup checkstandup codedstandup energystanduperstandup godstandup king
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Related terms
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Semantically related
- standup check67%
A quick evaluation of whether someone or something is genuinely delivering — originally invoking the standup comedy standard of actually being funny, not just trying. Online it's used to call out whether a person's actions match their claimed values: are you actually standing up for what you said you would? A standup check can be a self-audit or a public challenge thrown at someone whose behaviour hasn't lined up with their words. In dev culture it also puns on the Agile standup meeting, questioning whether that daily ritual is even serving its purpose anymore.
- scrum67%
In (specifically Scrum or related methodologies), a daily meeting in which each developer describes what they have been doing, what they plan to do next, and any impediments to progress.
- standuper65%
An informal term for someone who participates in or performs standups — whether that means a comedian doing live sets or a developer enduring the daily Agile ritual. In dev circles a standuper is often the person who treats the fifteen-minute sync like a performance opportunity, delivering their update with suspicious amounts of charisma. In comedy it can mean an enthusiastic hobbyist or open-mic regular who hasn't quite earned the full comedian label yet. The word carries a slightly playful tone either way.
- one-minute stand56%
(uncommon, LGBT slang) An exceptionally brief sexual encounter.
- all standing54%
(UK, naval) Brought to a sudden halt.