Upon
prep ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A higher-register or more formal alternative to on in most, though not all, prepositional uses.
"A vase of flowers stood upon the table. — The painting hangs upon the wall. — All of the responsibility is upon him. — She plays upon a violin (or piano). — The lighthouse that you can see is upon the mainland. — He rested upon his elbows. — Tug upon the rope; push hard upon the door! — I stubbed my toe upon an old tree stump. — He wore old shoes upon his feet. — Born upon the 4th of July. — I have no opinion upon this subject. — They proceeded to arrest someone upon suspicion of bribery. — Upon Jack's entry, William got up to leave. — Before we knew it, the forest was upon us, and the air grew colder and damper. — What will be the effect upon morale? — Have pity or compassion upon him. — They lived upon ten dollars a week. — We ate heaps upon heaps of food. — I depended upon them for assistance. — He affirmed or promised upon his word. — Upon my life, I am innocent. — A curse upon him!"
Example
More examples"You must not look upon him as great."
Etymology
From Middle English upon, uppon, uppen, from Old English upon, uppon, uppan (“on, upon, up to, against, after, in addition to”), equivalent to up (“adverb”) + on (“preposition”). Cognate with Old Saxon uppan (“upon”), Old High German ūfan, ūffan (“upon”), Icelandic upp á, upp á (“up on, upon”), Swedish uppå (“up on, upon”) (thence Swedish på), Danish på (“up on, upon”), Norwegian på (“up on, upon”).
Related phrases
More for "upon"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.