お手上(てあ)げ

Forms

お (honorific prefix) + 手(て) (hands) + 上(あ)げ (raising)
Literally "raising the hands" - the gesture of surrender. The お here is frozen into the word: there is no plain form 手上げ, so the prefix is not optional and adds no politeness.

Usage

Used when someone has tried everything and has no options left. It is a noun, and normally stands as a predicate with だ or です rather than taking a verb of its own. The thing that defeats you is marked with に, usually followed by は.

Common patterns

• お手上(てあ)げだ - I give up; I am at a loss
• お手上(てあ)げ状態(じょうたい) - a state of having run out of options
• 〜にはお手上(てあ)げだ - I am at a loss with ~

Similar words

• 万策尽(ばんさくつ)きる - to have exhausted every option (formal, written)
• どうしようもない - there is nothing to be done (about the situation itself)
• 降参(こうさん) - to give in, to surrender (to an opponent, or playfully in a game)
• あきらめる - to give up, as an act of will; お手上(てあ)げ describes the helpless state rather than the decision

Register

Casual and common in everyday conversation. It is light rather than despairing - often said with a wry smile about a stubborn person, a broken appliance, or a problem beyond one's skill - so it is not the word for serious defeat or grief.