upward
UK/ˈʌpwəd//ˈʌpwɚd/
upward adverb: in a direction from lower to higher; toward a higher place; in a course toward the source or origin.
Adverb
upward (not comparable)
- In a direction from lower to higher; toward a higher place; in a course toward the source or origin.
- We ran upward.
- Looking inward, we are stricken dumb; looking upward, we speak and prevail.[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
- In the upper parts; above.
- Dagon his name, sea monster, upward man, / And downward fish.1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
- Yet more; indefinitely more; above; over.
- From twenty years old and upward.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 1:3
Noun
upward (uncountable)
- The upper part; the top.
- From the extremest upward of thy head.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
Adjective
upward (comparative more upward, superlative most upward)
- Directed toward a higher place.
- with upward eye; with upward course
- […] economists should focus on efficiency and leave equity to others, to politicians or administrators. But the others regularly fail to materialize, so that when efficiency comes with upward redistribution—frequently though not inevitably—our recommendations become little more than a license for...2024 March, Angus Deaton, “Rethinking My Economics”, in F&D Magazine
- Synonyms:
- cloudward
Proper noun capitalized: Upward
Upward (plural Upwards)
- A surname.
upward meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
upward in Tamil
- மேல் நோக்கி, ஏறுமுகமான
upward in Urdu
- upward
- ابھرتا ubhartā
upward in Bengali
- ঊর্ধ্বমুখী, ওপরের দিকে গমনশীল, পরিচালিত, ক্রমবর্ধমান, পরিমাণ, মাত্রায় বৃদ্ধিসূচক
upward in Malayalam
- മേലേക്കുപോകുന്ന, മുകളിലേക്കു ലക്ഷ്യമിട്ട, മേല്പോട്ടുള്ള
More languagesFewer languages
- upward in Kannada
- ಊರ್ಧ್ವಮುಖ, ಮೇಲೇರುವ
Examples of upward in a sentence
- If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- We continue to move upward, climbing higher and higher across overgrown ledges along the wall.1989 May, Uwe George, “Venezuela's Islands in Time”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 535:
Synonyms of upward
Antonyms
Forms of upward
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more upward |
| superlative | most upward |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Upwards |
Origin of upward
From Old English upweardes, equivalent to up + -ward.
Words formed from upward
Phrases with upward
Questions about upward
- What does upward mean?
- Upward means in a direction from lower to higher; toward a higher place; in a course toward the source or origin.
- What is upward in Tamil?
- Upward in Tamil is மேல் நோக்கி, ஏறுமுகமான. See Upward meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use upward in a sentence?
- If the afternoon was fine they strolled together in the park, very slowly, and with pauses to draw breath wherever the ground sloped upward.
- What part of speech is upward?
- Upward can be an adverb, a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce upward?
- Upward is pronounced /ˈʌpwɚd/ (US).
Words near upward in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: upward (page history and authors); Upward (page history and authors); upward (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ابھرتا (Urdu) (page history and authors); upward (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); upward (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); upward (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-upward.ogg.
Cite this entry: “upward.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/upward. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.