Upset
Pronunciation
Noun- enPR: ÅpʹsÄ•t, IPA: /ˈʌpsÉ›t/
- enPR: ÅpsÄ•tʹ, IPA: /ÊŒpˈsÉ›t/
- Rhymes: -ɛt
Full definition of upset
Adjective
upset
- (of a person) Angry, distressed, or unhappy.He was upset when she refused his friendship.My children often get upset with their classmates.
- (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
Noun
upset
(countable and uncountable; plural upsets)- (uncountable) Disturbance or disruption.My late arrival caused the professor considerable upset.
- (countable, sports) An unexpected victory of a competitor that was not favored.
- 2011, January 8, Paul Fletcher, Stevenage 3 - 1 Newcastle, But it is probably the biggest upset for the away side since Ronnie Radford smashed a famous goal as Hereford defeated Newcastle 2-1 in 1972.
- (automobile insurance) An overturn."collision and upset": impact with another object or an overturn for whatever reason.
- An upset stomach.
- 1958 May 12, advertisement, Life, volume 44, number 19, page 110 http://books.google.com/books?id=vFMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA110&dq=pepto:"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!"
- (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.
Synonyms
- (disturbance, disruption) disruption, disturbance
- (unexpected victory of a competitor)
Verb
- (transitive) To make (a person) angry, distressed, or unhappy.I’m sure the bad news will upset him, but he needs to know.
- (transitive) To disturb, disrupt or adversely alter (something).Introducing a foreign species can upset the ecological balance.The fatty meat upset his stomach.
- (transitive) To tip or overturn (something).
- 1924, W. D. Ross translator, Aristotle, , 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.
- (transitive) To defeat unexpectedly.''Truman upset Dewey in the 1948 US presidential election.
- (intransitive) To be upset or knocked over.The carriage upset when the horse bolted.
- (obsolete) To set up; to put upright.
- R. of Brunnewith sail on mast upset
- To thicken and shorten, as a heated piece of iron, by hammering on the end.
- To shorten (a tire) in the process of resetting, originally by cutting it and hammering on the ends.