Upset

How to spell upset

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce upset

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does upset mean?

1. adjectiveFeeling unhappy, worried, or emotionally disturbed.
2. verbTo disturb, distress, or knock something out of its normal state.
3. nounAn unexpected result, especially when a favourite is defeated, or a state of disturbance.

Upset in a sentence

• adjective

  She was clearly upset after reading the rejection letter.

• verb

  A single careless remark can upset the whole team.

• noun

  The underdog's victory was the biggest upset of the tournament.

• adjective

  He felt upset when his weekend plans fell through.

• verb

  Heavy rain may upset the carefully planned outdoor wedding.

• noun

  A sudden stomach upset kept him home from work.

Where does upset come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Upset is a compound built from two very old native English words, the adverb 'up' and the verb 'set', both inherited from Old English and shared with the wider Germanic family. Curiously, when the combination first appeared in Middle English it meant almost the opposite of its modern sense: to 'upset' something was to set it up or erect it. By the early 1800s the meaning had flipped to the familiar one of tipping or overturning, as when a boat or a cart was upset, and from there it broadened to cover anything thrown into disorder. The figurative use for emotional distress, being 'upset', grew naturally out of that idea of a person's composure being overturned. Because both parts are plain everyday words and the spelling is simply 'up' followed by 'set', it carries no awkward foreign letters, and the only thing worth noting is that as a noun it carries the stress on the first syllable while the verb stresses the second.

How the word is built

• up (Old English up: upward)
• set (Old English settan: to place)