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Team communicationphrasal verb · /sɪŋk ʌp/

sync up

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In simple English

To align with teammates by sharing updates or information, typically through a quick meeting or message, ensuring everyone has the same understanding.

Someone heard "sync up" at work and wants to know if it means a meeting or something technical.

At a glanceCEFR B1–B2
Commonness
Versatility
FormalityCasualFormalCasual
Spoken ↔ WrittenSpokenWrittenBoth
Directness ↔ DiplomaticDirectDiplomaticNeutral
Region

Say it like this

✓Let's sync up after lunch.
✓Can we sync up on this before the meeting?
✓I need to sync up with the backend team.
✓We should sync up offline.
✓Let me sync up with Sarah first.

Real examples

Standup

"I'll sync up with the design team today to clarify the requirements."

Slack message

"Hey, can we sync up for 10 minutes this afternoon? I have some questions about the API."

GitHub PR

"Please sync up with the frontend team before merging—they may have related changes."

Jira ticket

"Blocked until I sync up with DevOps about the deployment pipeline."

Retrospective

"We need to sync up more often to avoid duplicate work."

Sprint planning

"Let's sync up with the product owner before estimating these stories."

Pair programming

"Give me a minute to sync up my local branch with main."

Don't say this

✕I will sync up you later.
✓I will sync up with you later.— Sync up requires 'with' before the person.
✕Let's sync up about this in a formal document.
✓Let's discuss this in a formal document.— Sync up is casual; use 'discuss' or 'address' in formal writing.
✕We synced up the project.
✓We synced up on the project.— Use 'on' when talking about a topic, not a direct object.

Other forms

verb (base)

sync up

"Let's sync up tomorrow."

verb (present)

syncs up

"She syncs up with the team every morning."

verb (past)

synced up

"We synced up yesterday about the bug."

verb (-ing)

syncing up

"I'm syncing up with QA right now."

noun

sync-up

"Let's schedule a quick sync-up."

Often used with

sync up with [person/team]Most common: talk to someone to share info
sync up on [topic]Discuss a specific subject
quick sync-upA short, informal meeting
sync up offlineDiscuss outside the main meeting
sync up laterPostpone the discussion

Similar words

catch upSimilar meaning but more casual, often about personal updates too
alignMore formal, often used in planning contexts
touch baseVery similar, slightly more American
check inOften implies asking about progress or status
coordinateMore formal, emphasizes organizing work together

Opposites

work independentlygo offlineout of syncmisalignedsiloed

More words

standupblockerofflinetouch basecheck inaligncatch upasync

Questions

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