What does "upright" mean?
Any vertical part of a structure.
Upright
/ˈʌpɹaɪt/ adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any vertical part of a structure.
- Grammar: upright is listed as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: erect, vertical, akimbo, ancient resident of rome.
- Useful contrasts: bad, italic, accumbent.
- Usage evidence: He sits upright, not crouched over his plate like an animal at a feeding trough.
How to use "upright"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "upright" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "upright" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "upright" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "upright" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "upright" is acting as adj, adv, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "erect" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "upright", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any vertical part of a structure.
"On the change in architectural forms from the pyramidal to the obeliscar, the fires were transferred from the altars, or cubes, to the summits of the typical uprights, or towers; […]"
- 2 a piano with a vertical sounding board wordnet
- 3 Any vertical part of a structure.; A goal post.
"Chelsea improved, with Salomon Kalou denied by goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey and Didier Drogba hitting the upright."
- 4 a vertical structural member as a post or stake wordnet
- 5 Any vertical part of a structure.; A leg. slang
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 A word clued by the successive initial, middle, or final letters of the cross-lights in a double acrostic or triple acrostic.
- 7 Short for upright piano abbreviation, alt-of, informal
- 8 Short for upright arcade game cabinet abbreviation, alt-of, informal
"The video arcade machines are typically in stand up arcade cabinets, although some have been built as tables. The uprights have a monitor and controls in front and players insert coins or tokens into the machines to play the game."
- 9 Ellipsis of upright vacuum cleaner. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 10 The tips of the antlers of a young deer. British, dialectal, obsolete
Verb
- 1 To set upright or stand back up (something that has fallen). transitive
Adjective
- 1 Vertical; erect.
"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."
- 2 In its proper orientation; not overturned.
"My brother didn't get angry when his son knocked over the lamp; he simply called the boy over and helped him set it upright again."
- 3 Greater in height than breadth.
- 4 Of good morals; practicing ethical values. figuratively
"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."
- 5 Having the head approximately at a right angle with the shaft.
Adjective
- 1 in a vertical position; not sloping wordnet
- 2 upright in position or posture wordnet
- 3 of moral excellence wordnet
Adverb
- 1 In or into an upright position.
"I was standing upright, waiting for my orders."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"He sits upright, not crouched over his plate like an animal at a feeding trough."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "upright"?
Common synonyms include: erect, vertical, akimbo, ancient resident of rome, angelic, arrowlike.
How do you use "upright" in a sentence?
He sits upright, not crouched over his plate like an animal at a feeding trough.
How do you pronounce "upright"?
Pronounced /ˈʌpɹaɪt/.
Etymology
From Middle English upright, uppryght, upriht, from Old English upriht (“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 uppréttur (“upright”).