ENGLISH
REFERENCE

upright

n.
B2 Upper Intermediate US //ˈəˌpɹaɪt// UK //ˈʌpɹaɪt// up·right Archaic Dialect Informal Slang

n. standing or sitting straight up rather than lying down or leaning. You use this to describe someone with good posture or an object that is vertical.

n. positioned vertically or in a strictly vertical direction. Often used to describe posture or the orientation of structural components.


SIMPLE

Please make sure your seat is in the upright position.

CONTEXTUAL

The physical therapist reminded him to keep an upright posture while working at his desk to avoid back pain.

COMPLEX

The ancient stone pillars remained remarkably upright despite centuries of seismic activity and weathering that had leveled the surrounding structures.

Synonyms
Antonyms
Origin

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”).

Usage

Can be used both before a noun and after a linking verb.

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