Word.ws English Dictionary

topsy-turvy

Syllables: top·sy-turvyUK/ˌtɒpsɪˈtəːvi//ˌtɑpsiˈtɚvi/

topsy-turvy adverb: backwards or upside down; also, having been overturned or upset.

Adverb

topsy-turvy (comparative more topsy-turvy, superlative most topsy-turvy)

  1. Backwards or upside down; also, having been overturned or upset.
    • Thou toyl'ſt in perrill, and the vvindie ſtorme, / Doth topſide-turuey toſſe thee as thou floteſt.[1594, Robert Garnier, translated by Thomas Kid [i.e., Thomas Kyd], Pompey the Great, His Faire Corneliaes Tragedie: […], London: […] [James Roberts] for Nicholas Ling, published 1595, →OCLC, act I...
    • If we without his helpe can make a head / To puſh againſt a kingdome, with his helpe / We ſhal oreturne it topsie turuy down, [...]c. 1597 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The History of Henrie the Fourth; […], quarto edition, London: […] P[eter] S[hort] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1598, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]
  2. (figuratively) Not in the natural order of things; in a disorderly manner; chaotically.
    • Diuilliſh it is to deſtroy a cittie, but more then diuilliſhe, to euert citties, to betraye countreies, to cause ſeruaunts to kyll their maiſters, parentes theyr children, children their parentes, wiues their huſbandes, and to turne all things topſy turuy, and yet it doth ſo, as ſhalbe declared.1576, T[homas] R[ogers], “Of Loue”, in A Philosophicall Discourse, Entituled, The Anatomie of the Minde. […], London: […] I[ohn] C[harlewood] for Andrew Maunsell, […], →OCLC, folio 22, recto

Adjective

topsy-turvy (comparative topsy-turvier, superlative topsy-turviest)

  1. Backwards or upside down.
    • If I travel Aunt, I touch at your Antipodes—your Antipodes are a good raſcally ſort of topſy turvy Fellows—If I had a Bumper I'd ſtand upon my Head and drink a Health to ’em— [...]1700, [William] Congreve, The Way of the World, a Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act IV, scene x, pages 63–64
    • This argument, vaguely political in nature, took place as often as the two men met. It was a topsy-turvy affair, for the Englishman was bitterly anti-English and the Indian fanatically loyal.1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC; republished as chapter 3, in Burmese Days (ebook no. 0200051h.html)...
    Synonyms:
    inverted, reversed
  2. (figuratively) Chaotic; disorderly.
    • [John] Chrysostom saith, An Oath came in when Evils increased, when men appeared unfaithful, when all things became Topsy Turvy.1675, William Penn, “The Ground or Reason of Swearing”, in A Treatise of Oaths, Containing Several Weighty Reasons why the People Call’d Quakers Refuse to Swear: […], [London]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 10
    • You have not kept her comfortable-easy. Something has turned her poor little mind topsy-turvies.[1872, [William] Wilkie Collins, “Lucilla’s Journal, Concluded”, in Poor Miss Finch. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley and Son, →OCLC, 2nd part, page 160

Noun

topsy-turvy (countable and uncountable, plural topsy-turvies)

  1. (countable) An act of turning something backwards or upside down, or the situation that something is in after this has happened.
    • Perhaps he was at a loss for the points of compass, as is often the case in tumbles and topsy-turvies.1850, [Warren Burton], “Augustus Starr, the Privateer who Turned Pedagogue—His New Crew Mutiny, and Perform a Singular Exploit”, in The District School as It Was. […], revised edition, Boston, Mass....
  2. (countable, figuratively) A situation where the natural order of things has been upset.
    • [I ...] has seed a heap of scatterments and topsyturvies: here's hoping dat you all may swim smoofly along the briny waves of sacrificin' time, and ford the Jordan of destructive equinoxes, while fiery billows roll beneath!1849, C[alvin] H[enderson] Wiley, “Boyish Conversation”, in Roanoke; or, “Where is Utopia?” […], Philadelphia, Pa.: T. B. Peterson & Brothers, […], published 1866, →OCLC, pages 110–111
    • The best-known examples of children’s nonsense language play, and their ‘topsy turvies’, or inversion of reality, are in Chukovsky, who asserts that such topsy turvies ‘strengthen (not weaken) the child’s awareness of reality’ [...].2006, Sue Robson, “Language, Communication and Thought”, in Developing Thinking and Understanding in Young Children: An Introduction for Students, Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Routledge...
  3. (figuratively, uncountable) Chaos, confusion, disorder.
    • Why should we [...] use it [our sense of the ludicrous] to degrade the healthy appetites and affections of our nature as they are seen to be degraded in insane patients whose system, all out of joint, finds matter for screaming laughter in mere topsy-turvy, [...?][1879], George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “[Impressions of Theophrastus Such.] Debasing the Moral Currency.”, in Impressions of Theophrastus Such, Essays and Leaves from a Note-book...

Verb

topsy-turvy (third-person singular simple present topsy-turvies or topsy-turvys, present participle topsy-turvying, simple past and past participle topsy-turvied or topsy-turvyed)

  1. (transitive) To turn topsy-turvy or upside down; to invert.
    • Mr. [George] Eliot's descriptions of scenery are perfect: [...] and so are his descriptions of children. [...] We forbear (though with regret) the introduction to our readers of Totty's bald doll, ignominously ‘topsy turvied’ by her insulting brother.1859 July, “Art. IX.—1. Adam Bede. By George Eliot. 3 vols. 1859. 2. Scenes of Clerical Life. By George Eliot. 2 vols. 1858. [book review]”, in The Edinburgh Review, or Critical Journal, volume CX...
    • The already lithified/hardened late Early/early Middle Oxfordian chunks/slabs of the oolitic limestones fragmented and rotated, even topsy-turvied upside down in the repetitive violent/explosive shake ups.2017, Jai Krishna, “High-resolution Intrabasinal to Inter-regional Geodynamic Chronicle during the Span of the Intra-Permian–Intra-Paleogene Mega-sequence in and around India on the GTM”, in The...
  2. (figuratively, transitive) To throw into chaos or disorder; to upset.
    • [...] Mrs. Sykes said, ‘her man was the wust she ever knowed when he got topsy-turveyed.’ And as now, he began to get topsy-turveyed pretty regularly before he had finished his daily business with the retiring host of the Holly Bush, there was not much peace at home.[1854], G[eorge] E[liel] Sargent, “How the Legacy Went. In Two Chapters.”, in Moralities for Home, London: Groombridge and Sons. […], →OCLC, chapter II (How It Departed), page 148
    • Has not a diluent expletive been interjected to fill up a line? has not a plain proposition been topsy-turvied, till subject and object are miserably confused, because of accent?1858 July–December, J. A., “Prose versus Verse”, in The New Monthly Belle Assemblée; a Magazine of Literature and Fashion, […], volume XLIX, London: Rogerson and Tuxford, […], →OCLC, page 188, column...

topsy-turvy meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada

topsy-turvy in Hindi

not in the natural order of things; in a disorderly manner — see also chaotically, disorderedly
उल्टा-पुल्टा ulṭā-pulṭā
chaotic, disorderly — see also chaotic, disorderly, disordered
उल्टा-पुल्टा ulṭā-pulṭā

topsy-turvy in Tamil

backwards or upside down
மேலும் கீழும் mēlum kīḻum

topsy-turvy in Malayalam

upside down, the wrong way up, the wrong side up
തലകീഴായ, കീഴ്മേൽമറിഞ്ഞ, തലതിരിഞ്ഞ, തലകീഴ്ക്കാമ്പാടായ, കരണം മറിഞ്ഞ, കീഴ്മേലായ
in a mess, in disarray, in a muddle
തകിടം മറിഞ്ഞ, കുഴഞ്ഞുമറിഞ്ഞ, പര്യാകുല, താറുമാറായ, അണിയഴിഞ്ഞ, ക്രമഭംഗം വന്ന

topsy-turvy in Kannada

ತಲೆಕೆಳಗಾದ, ಅಸ್ತವ್ಯಸ್ತವಾದ, ತಿರುವುಮುರುವಾದ, ಗೊಂದಲದ, ಕೆಳಗುಮೇಲೆ

Examples of topsy-turvy in a sentence

  • [...] Maggie [...] had stolen unperceived to her father's elbow again, listening with parted lips, while she held her doll topsy-turvy, and crushed its nose against the wood of the chair— [...]1860, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “Mr Riley Gives His Advice Concerning a School for Tom”, in The Mill on the Floss […]...
  • It feels like I've stepped through the looking glass and am wandering in a topsy-turvy world where the fixpoints we have lived with for decades have gone.2020 June 3, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: The Recovery Starts here”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:
  • It is one among their many greater advantages from this surprisal of the enemy, and sudden topsy-turvying of his plans.1865, Thomas Carlyle, “The Campaign Opens”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume V, London: Chapman...

Synonyms of topsy-turvy

All synonyms of topsy-turvy

Forms of topsy-turvy

Adverb
comparativemore topsy-turvy
superlativemost topsy-turvy
alternative formtopside-turvy
alternative formtopsyturvy
alternative formtopsy turvy
Adjective
comparativetopsy-turvier
superlativetopsy-turviest
alternative formtopsy-turvey
Noun
pluraltopsy-turvies
Verb
third-person singular presenttopsy-turvies
third-person singular presenttopsy-turvys
present participletopsy-turvying
past participletopsy-turvied
pasttopsy-turvied
past participletopsy-turvyed
pasttopsy-turvyed

Origin of topsy-turvy

The origin of the adverb and adjective are uncertain. Topsy is probably derived from top or tops, though this does not explain the -sy ending; it has been suggested that the latter comes from so (thus, top so) or from top-set or top-side, modified to match the -y ending of turvy. The term topside-turvy is mentioned in the Anglo-Irish writer Laurence Sterne’s novel, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759–1767).Turvy is probably derived from a rare (scarcely attested) obsolete English word terve, turve (“to be thrown down; to fall; to dash down; to cast, throw; to turn back or down; to fold or roll over”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of; inclined to’), with turve inherited from Middle English terven (“to throw (something) down; to throw (something) into confusion; to level; to resort or turn (to something); to go, move; to turn; to collapse, fall”) […], perhaps from Old English *tierfan (compare Old English tearflian (“to roll over, wallow”)) or from Old English torfian (“to launch, throw; to shoot missiles at; to stone; to be tossed”), from Proto-Germanic *turbōną (“to fling, hurl”), *turbijaną (“to turn, twist”) (whence Old English ġetyrfian (“to...

Words formed from topsy-turvy

Questions about topsy-turvy

What does topsy-turvy mean?
Topsy-turvy means backwards or upside down; also, having been overturned or upset.
What is topsy-turvy in Hindi?
Topsy-turvy in Hindi is उल्टा-पुल्टा (ulṭā-pulṭā). See Topsy-turvy meaning in Hindi.
How do you use topsy-turvy in a sentence?
[...] Maggie [...] had stolen unperceived to her father's elbow again, listening with parted lips, while she held her doll topsy-turvy, and crushed its nose against the wood of the chair— [...]
What part of speech is topsy-turvy?
Topsy-turvy can be an adverb, an adjective, a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce topsy-turvy?
Topsy-turvy is pronounced /ˌtɒpsɪˈtəːvi/ (UK).

Words near topsy-turvy in the dictionary

  1. topsy-turviest
  2. topsy-turvification
  3. topsy-turvify
  4. topsy-turvily
  5. topsy-turviness
  6. topsy-turvy
  7. topsy-turvydom
  8. topsy-turvyed
  9. topsy-turvying
  10. topsy-turvyness
  11. topsy-turvys

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: topsy-turvy (page history and authors); topsy-turvy (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); topsy-turvy (Kannada Wiktionary) (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-topsy-turvy.ogg, En-au-topsy turvy.ogg.

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