Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use upset in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun, verb

Upset means angry, distressed, or unhappy. Example: “He was upset when she refused his friendship.”

Examples of upset by meaning

adjectiveAngry, distressed, or unhappy.

  • He was upset when she refused his friendship.
  • My children often get upset with their classmates.

adjectiveFeeling unwell, nauseated, or ready to vomit.

  • His stomach was upset, so he didn't want to move.
  • Bryan came home from school with an upset tummy.

nounDisturbance or disruption.

  • My late arrival caused the professor considerable upset.

nounAn unexpected victory of a competitor or candidate that was not favored to win.

  • 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 1972.2011 January 8, Paul Fletcher, “Stevenage 3 - 1 Newcastle”, in BBC
  • Sanders’s win in Michigan was one of the greatest upsets in modern political history.2016 March 9, Harry Enten, “What The Stunning Bernie Sanders Win In Michigan Means”, in FiveThirtyEight, archived from the original on 10...
  • The sudden rise of Shah’s party is a stunning upset for the small Himalayan country of 30 million wedged between India and China.2026 March 11, Chad de Guzman, “Who Is Balendra Shah, the Rapper On Track to Become Nepal’s Next Prime Minister”, in TIME, archived from...

nounAn overturn.

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

nounThe dangerous situation where the flight attitude or airspeed of an aircraft is outside the designed bounds of...

  • The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the unfavorable interaction of severe vertical air drafts and large longitudinal control displacements resulting in a longitudinal upset from which a successful recovery was not made.1965 June 1, Civil Aeronautics Board, “Synopsis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Northwest Airlines, Inc., Boeing 720B, N724US, Near Miami...

nounA woven row supporting the foundation rods for the uprights of a basket.

  • Willow basket making, an artisan inserting bye-stakes in the upsets.1972, Nilima Roy, Basketry and Mat-weaving in India

verbTo make (a person) angry, distressed, or unhappy.

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

More sentences with upset

  • Listen, the only reason I yelled at you was because I was upset, OK?From the entry listen
  • He's a relaxed kind of guy, he never lets himself get upset.From the entry relaxed
  • When she gets upset, she has a little mope, and then gets over it.From the entry mope
  • It figures that somebody like him would be upset about the situation.From the entry figure
  • Most people agreed, but a sizable minority were upset by the decision.From the entry minority
  • You're such a sport! You never get upset when we tease you.From the entry sport
  • I can tell when my cat is upset because he’ll bush up his tail.From the entry bush
  • They were upset, having a flutter about getting me on their side in the dispute.From the entry flutter
  • He was visibly upset while reading the news live on air about the school shooting.From the entry visibly
  • Jesum Crow, why's the statie so upset? We're only drinking tonics out here.From the entry Jesum Crow
  • I was so upset that I went home and had a sook about it.From the entry sook
  • Whenever I'm upset, I look to Mary to cheer me up.From the entry look to
  • You should ease off him a while, or he might get upset.From the entry ease off
  • I think she's overweight, but when I said as much to her, she got very upset.From the entry as much
  • He could be the rider that upsets a Spanish 1-2-3 on the podium.From the entry 1-2-3
  • I knew he was upset, but I didn't understand why.From the entry know
  • She felt even more upset when she heard the details.From the entry feel
  • If anybody hurts my little brother, I will get upset.From the entry hurt
  • The rookie was upset at being called Lemon Drop until she realized that everyone on the team had a silly moniker.From the entry moniker
  • Somehow he managed to upset the Russian Mafia.From the entry mafia
  • John looked very upset. I gave him a sympathetic look.From the entry sympathetic
  • She was in floods of tears and obviously very upset.From the entry obviously
  • The President's renunciation of the treaty has upset Congress.From the entry renunciation
  • The coach was so upset with his team after they lost that he gave them an hour-long tongue-lashing.From the entry tongue lashing
  • Parents of younger children often become upset when they are told that they cannot sit in on the psychological assessment.From the entry sit in on
  • Were you in the least upset yesterday?From the entry in the least
  • My little brother gets upset when I outbowl him.From the entry outbowl
  • Widely considered the favorite, the election is his to lose, but an upset is still possible if a scandal emerges.From the entry be someone's to lose

Meaning of upset

  1. adjective Angry, distressed, or unhappy.
  2. adjective Feeling unwell, nauseated, or ready to vomit.
  3. noun Disturbance or disruption.

Full definition of upset

Questions about upset in a sentence

How do you use upset in a sentence?
Upset is used as an adjective, noun and verb. For example: “He was upset when she refused his friendship.”
What is a short sentence with upset?
“Were you in the least upset yesterday?”
What does upset mean?
Upset means angry, distressed, or unhappy.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: upset (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use upset in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/upset. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.