upset

English Online Dictionary. What means upset‎? What does upset mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English upset (“the act of setting up; establishment”), from Middle English upsetten, corresponding to up- +‎ set. Cognate with Middle Low German upset (“setup; arrangement”).

Pronunciation

Noun

• enPR: ŭpsĕt, IPA^(key): /ˈʌpsɛt/

Adjective, verb

• enPR: ŭpʹsĕtʹ, IPA^(key): /ʌpˈsɛt/
• Rhymes: -ɛt

Adjective

upset (comparative more upset, superlative most upset)

1. (of a person, predicative only) Angry, distressed, or unhappy.

   He was upset when she refused his friendship.

   My children often get upset with their classmates.

2. (of a stomach or gastrointestinal tract, referred to as stomach) Feeling unwell, nauseated, or ready to vomit.

   His stomach was upset, so he didn't want to move.

Synonyms

• (angry, distressed, unhappy): See angry, distressed and unhappy
  • in a tizzy

Derived terms

• upset price
• upset stomach

Translations

Noun

upset (countable and uncountable, plural upsets)

1. (uncountable) Disturbance or disruption.

2. (countable, sports, politics) An unexpected victory of a competitor or candidate that was not favored to win.
3. (automobile insurance) An overturn.

   "collision and upset": impact with another object or an overturn for whatever reason.

4. An upset stomach.
   • 1958 May 12, advertisement, Life, volume 44, number 19, page 110 [3]:

     "Bob, let's cancel the babysitter. With this upset stomach, I can't go out tonight.

     "Try Pepto-Bismol. Hospital tests prove it relieves upsets. And it's great for indigestion or nausea, too!"

5. (mathematics) An upper set; a subset (X,≤) of a partially ordered set with the property that, if x is in U and x≤y, then y is in U.
6. (aviation) The dangerous situation where the flight attitude or airspeed of an aircraft is outside the designed bounds of operation, possibly resulting in loss of control.

Synonyms

• (disturbance, disruption): disruption, disturbance
• (unexpected victory of a competitor):

Derived terms

• jet upset
• upset the apple cart
• upsetting thermometer

Translations

Verb

upset (third-person singular simple present upsets, present participle upsetting, simple past and past participle upset)

2. (transitive) To make (a person) angry, distressed, or unhappy.

   I’m sure the bad news will upset him, but he needs to know.

3. (transitive) To disturb, disrupt or adversely alter (something).

   Introducing a foreign species can upset the ecological balance.

   The fatty meat upset his stomach.

4. (transitive) To tip or overturn (something).
   • 1924, W. D. Ross translator, Aristitle, Metaphysics, Book 1, Part 9, The Classical Library, Nashotah, Wisconsin, 2001.

     But this argument, which first Anaxagoras and later Eudoxus and certain others used, is very easily upset; for it is not difficult to collect many insuperable objections to such a view.

5. (transitive) To defeat unexpectedly.

   Truman upset Dewey in the 1948 US presidential election.

6. (intransitive) To be upset or knocked over.

   The carriage upset when the horse bolted.
7. (obsolete) To set up; to put upright.
   • R. of Brunne

     with sail on mast upset

8. To thicken and shorten, as a heated piece of iron, by hammering on the end.
9. To shorten (a tire) in the process of resetting, originally by cutting it and hammering on the ends.

Synonyms

• (make someone angry, distressed or unhappy): See anger, distress, forset, and sadden
• (disturb, disrupt, adversely alter): disrupt, disturb, forset, turn upside down
• (tip, overturn): invert, overturn, forset, tip, tip over, tip up, turn over, turn upside down

Derived terms

• upset the applecart
• upset the natives

Translations

Anagrams

• TUPEs, Tse-p'u, puets, set up, set-up, setup, spute, stupe