Live up to means to be as good as expected or to match a reputation or a big name. People most often say it about a thing, person or event that turned out as good as they hoped or, the other way round, disappointed them. The second common use is about keeping your promises and principles: live up to your promises.
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live up to + expectations/reputation/the hype; live up to + promise/name
- The new phone didn't live up to the hype, so I returned it after a week.
- She worked hard at university to live up to her parents' expectations.
- The hotel lived up to its reputation: quiet rooms and a great breakfast.
What changed
First versionThe film didn't justify my expectations.
RevisionThe film didn't live up to my expectations.
Expectations can seem like something you justify, so justify looks like the right verb. But justify means to show that a decision or cost was right: justify a decision, justify the cost. Native speakers hardly ever use it with expectations, and the sentence sounds unnatural. When a film, trip or person didn't disappoint, or let you down, the phrase is live up to.
Live up to is easy to confuse with look up to: both end in up to. Look up to means to respect someone and want to be like them: I've always looked up to my older sister. Live up to means to reach a standard: you can admire your older sister and spend your whole childhood trying to live up to her example.
Your turn
Everyone said the restaurant was amazing, but the food didn't ___ its reputation.
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live up to — Everyone praised the restaurant, but the food was disappointing, so it didn't reach the level of its fame: didn't live up to its reputation. Look up to means to respect someone and want to be like them; food can't respect a reputation.
Write about a trip, purchase or film you had been looking forward to for a long time. Say what it was and whether it lived up to your expectations.
The trip to Lisbon lived up to my expectations: the weather was warm and the food was even better than in the reviews.
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