Upper

How to spell upper

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce upper

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does upper mean?

1. adjectiveSituated above or higher in position than something else.
2. nounThe part of a shoe above the sole, covering the top of the foot.

Upper in a sentence

• adjective

  The spare blankets are stored on the upper shelf of the cupboard.

• noun

  The leather upper had cracked, though the sole was still sound.

• adjective

  A dull ache spread across her upper back after the long flight.

• noun

  The cobbler stitched the upper back onto the worn heel.

Where does upper come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is the comparative built on the everyday English word 'up', which descends from the Old English upp, meaning 'in or to a higher position'. That word belongs to a wide Germanic family, with close relatives in Dutch op and German auf, all carrying the basic notion of upward motion or location. The comparative form 'upper', meaning 'higher than something else', came into use in the medieval period as English speakers needed a way to contrast one level with another, much as 'inner' was formed from 'in'. From the simple spatial idea grew familiar extensions: the 'upper' classes sit above others socially, and the 'upper' of a shoe is the part above the sole. The doubled p reflects the short, stressed vowel inherited straight from upp, which is the small detail worth fixing in memory.

How the word is built

• up (Old English upp: in or to a higher position)
• -er (comparative/adjectival suffix)