Upright

How to spell upright

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce upright

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does upright mean?

1. adjectiveStanding straight up in a vertical position rather than lying flat or leaning.
2. adjectiveStrictly honest and morally honourable in behaviour.
3. nounA vertical post or support, such as the side post of a goal or doorframe.

Upright in a sentence

• adjective

  Please keep the parcel upright so the contents do not shift.

• adjective

  The auditors praised her as an upright and trustworthy manager.

• noun

  The ball struck the left upright and bounced clear of the goal.

• adjective

  She pulled the fallen chair back into an upright position.

• adjective

  He was known throughout the firm as an upright citizen who never cut corners.

• noun

  The carpenter bolted a steel upright to the wall to brace the shelving.

Where does upright come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native Old English compound, formed long before the Norman Conquest from up, meaning 'in or to a higher position', and riht, meaning 'straight' or 'correct'. The second element traces back to the same Germanic root that gave us 'right', 'rectify', and 'erect', all of which share the underlying sense of something straightened out or set correctly. The earliest recorded uses literally described a thing standing straight up rather than lying down, and from that physical picture the figurative sense of moral straightness, an honest and honourable person who does not stoop to wrongdoing, grew quite naturally. Because both halves are ordinary words spelled exactly as they sound, the spelling is transparent: 'up' plus 'right', with the silent 'gh' that English keeps in 'right', 'light', and 'night'.

How the word is built

• up- (in a raised position)
• right (straight, erect, from Old English riht)