Word.ws English Dictionary

above

UK/əˈbʌv/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England/əˈbʊv/

above preposition: physically over; on top of; worn on top of, said of clothing.

above: physically over; on top of; worn on top of, said of clothing
Image: Mx. Granger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Preposition

above

  1. Physically over; on top of; worn on top of, said of clothing.
    • He always put his coat on above his sweater.
  2. In or to a higher place; higher than; on or over the upper surface.
    • And God said, Let the waters bring foorth aboundantly the mouing creature that hath life, and foule that may flie aboue the earth in the open firmament of heauen.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 1:20
    • Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, […] and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
    Antonyms:
    below, beneath
  3. Farther north than.
    • Idaho is above Utah.
  4. Rising; appearing out of reach height-wise.
  5. (figuratively) Higher than; superior to in any respect; surpassing; higher in measure, degree, volume, or pitch, etc. than; out of reach; not exposed to; not likely to be affected by; incapable of negative actions or thoughts.
    • to cut above average
    • Even the chief of police is not above suspicion.
  6. Higher in rank, status, or position.
    • to stand head and shoulders above the rest
    • ☞ This word [wrap] is often pronounced wrop, rhyming with top, even by ſpeakers much above the vulgar.1791, John Walker, A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary […] , London: Sold by G. G. J. and J. Robinſon, Paternoſter Row; and T. Cadell, in the Strand, →OCLC, page 557
  7. (Scotland) In addition to; besides.
    • above and beyond the call of duty
    • over and above
  8. Surpassing in number or quantity; more than.
    • That amount is way above our asking price.
  9. In preference to.
  10. Too proud to stoop to; averse to; disinclined towards.
    • The owner was above taking more than a token salary.
  11. Beyond; on the other side.
  12. Upstage of.

Adverb

above (not comparable)

  1. Directly overhead; vertically on top of.
    • Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.2013 May 11, “The climate of Tibet: Pole-land”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 80
  2. Higher in the same page; earlier in the order as far as writing products go.
    • Nobody has lived in it since the summer of 1879, and it is fast going to pieces. For some three years before the date mentioned above, it was occupied by the family of Charles May1913, Ambrose Bierce, Present at a Hanging and Other Ghost Stories
    • That angels are men in the most complete form, and enjoy every sense, may be seen above (n. 73-77); and that the light in heaven is far brighter than the light in the world (n. 126-132).1905, Emanuel Swedenborg, chapter 19, in Heaven and Hell
  3. Into or from heaven; in the sky.
    • He’s in a better place now, floating free as the clouds above.
  4. In a higher place; upstairs; farther upstream.
  5. Higher in rank, power, or position.
    • He appealed to the court above.
  6. (archaic) In addition.
  7. More in number.
  8. Above zero; above freezing.
    • It was a cold day at only 5 above.
  9. On the upper half or the dorsal surface of an animal.
    • The sparrow I saw was rufous above and off-white below.

Adjective

above (not comparable)

  1. Of heaven; heavenly.
  2. (by ellipsis) Being located higher on the same page or on a preceding page.

Noun

above (uncountable)

  1. Heaven.
    • A brother from another mother, sent from the above.1998, “Twinz”, in Capital Punishment, performed by Big Pun and Fat Joe
  2. Something, especially a person's name in legal documents, that appears higher on the same page or on a preceding page.
  3. Higher authority.
  4. (archaic) Betterment, raised status or condition.
    • Withal they saw of him that he had no doubt but that they should come to their above on the morrow,1896, William Morris, The Well at the World's End

above meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

above in Hindi

over, on top of
के ऊपर ke ūpar
in or to a higher place
... के ऊपर ... ke ūpar
in a higher place
ऊपर ūpar

above in Tamil

out of reach, heightwise
மேலே mēlē
more
மேலே mēlē
over, on top of
மேலே mēlē, மேல் mēl
in or to a higher place
மேலே mēlē, மேல் mēl

above in Marathi

more
आणखी āṇkhī
in or to a higher place
वरती vartī

above in Urdu

in or to a higher place
... کے اوپر ... ke ūpar
in a higher place
اوپر ūpar
More languagesFewer languages
above in Nepali
माथि māthi
above in Tagalog
sa ibabaw ng, ibabaw ng, itaas, ibabaw
above in Arabic
أَكْثٰر ʔakṯār, أَعْلَى ʔaʕlā, فَوقَ, شَمَالِيّ šamāliyy
above in Malay
atas
above in Indonesian
atas
above in Thai
เหนือ nʉ̌ʉa
above in Vietnamese
trên
above in Myanmar
အပေါ် a.pau

Examples of above in a sentence

  • He was always above reproach.
  • I thought you said you were above these kinds of antics.
  • That's above my comprehension.
  • Thy worth, sweet friend, is far above my gifts,1594, Christopher Marlowe, Edward II, act I, scene i:
  • At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightnes of the Sunne, shining round about mee, and them which iourneyed with me.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 26:13:

All 40 example sentences with above

Antonyms of above

Forms of above

alternative form (obsolete)aboue

Origin of above

From Middle English above, aboven, abuven, from Old English ābufan, onbufan, from on (“on”) + bufan (“over”), (akin to Icelandic ofan (“from above”), Middle Dutch bōven, Old Frisian bova, Middle High German bobene) from bī (“by”) + ufan (“over”); also cognate with Danish oven, Dutch boven, German oben, Swedish ovan, Old Saxon oƀan, Old High German obana. The preposition, the adjective, and the noun derive from the adverb.

Words formed from above

Phrases with above

33 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with above

1 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about above

What does above mean?
Above means physically over; on top of; worn on top of, said of clothing.
What is above in Hindi?
Above in Hindi is के ऊपर (ke ūpar), ... के ऊपर (... ke ūpar), ऊपर (ūpar). See Above meaning in Hindi.
How do you use above in a sentence?
He was always above reproach.
What part of speech is above?
Above can be a preposition, an adverb, an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce above?
Above is pronounced /əˈbʌv/ (UK).

Words near above in the dictionary

  1. aboutnesses
  2. abouts
  3. aboutsledge
  4. aboutsledges
  5. aboutta
  6. above
  7. above a bit
  8. above all
  9. above and beyond
  10. above average
  11. above board

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: above (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-above.ogg.

Cite this entry: “above.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/above. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.