upright
See also: Upright
English
Etymology
From Middle English upright, uppryght, upriht, from Old English upriht, uppriht (“upright; erect”), from Proto-Germanic *upprehtaz, equivalent to up- + right. Cognate with Saterland Frisian apgjucht (“upright”), West Frisian oprjocht (“upright”), Dutch oprecht (“upright”), German Low German uprecht (“upright”), German aufrecht (“upright”), Swedish upprätt (“upright”), Icelandic upprétt (“upright”).
Pronunciation
Audio (US) (file) - IPA(key): /ˈʌpɹaɪt/
Adjective
upright (comparative more upright, superlative most upright)
- Vertical; erect.
- I was standing upright, waiting for my orders.
- 1608, William Shakespeare, The merry Deuill of Edmonton, introduction, lines 1–4
- Fab[ell]: What meanes the tolling of this fatall chime, // O what a trembling horror ſtrikes my hart! // My ſtiffned haire ſtands vpright on my head, // As doe the briſtles of a porcupine.
- 1782, Fanny Burney, Cecilia; or, Memoirs of an Heiress, volume V, Book X, chapter X: “A Termination”, page 372
- Supported by pillows, ſhe ſat almoſt upright.
- 2006, Neil A. Campbell, Biology: concepts & connections, page 404:
- Upright posture evolved well before an enlarged brain in hominids.
- Greater in height than breadth.
- (figuratively) Of good morals; practicing ethical values.
- 1611, King James Version, Job 1:1:
- There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
- 1611, King James Version, Job 1:1:
- (of a golf club) Having the head approximately at a right angle with the shaft.
Synonyms
- (vertical, erect): surrect (obsolete, rare)
Derived terms
Translations
vertical; erect
greater in height than breadth
of good morals
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Translations
Noun
upright (plural uprights)
- Any vertical part of a structure, especially one of the goal posts in sports.
- A word clued by the successive initial, middle, or final letters of the cross-lights in a double acrostic or triple acrostic.
- (informal) An upright piano.
- Short for upright vacuum cleaner.
Holonyms
- (word clued by successive letters): double acrostic, triple acrostic
Related terms
Translations
any vertical part of a structure, especially one of the goal posts in sports
Verb
upright (third-person singular simple present uprights, present participle uprighting, simple past and past participle uprighted)
- (transitive) To set upright or stand back up (something that has fallen).
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