Upward

How to spell upward

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce upward

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does upward mean?

1. adverbToward a higher place, level, or position.
2. adjectiveDirected or moving toward a higher position or level.

Upward in a sentence

• adverb

  The balloon drifted upward until it vanished from sight.

• adjective

  The report noted a steady upward trend in monthly sales.

• adverb

  House prices have been moving upward for three straight years.

• adjective

  The rocket followed a sharp upward path after launch.

Where does upward come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word comes straight from native Old English roots rather than any borrowing. The first part is up, an everyday word of Germanic origin meaning 'to or in a higher place', and the second is the suffix -weard, which meant 'turned toward' or 'in the direction of'. That same -ward element survives in a whole family of direction words such as forward, backward, toward and homeward, all formed on the same simple pattern. The form upweard was already in use well over a thousand years ago, and the spelling settled into upward as English standardised. Because the suffix is -ward and not '-wards', the trickiest point for writers is simply remembering that the adjective form drops the final s, even though many people add it by habit in speech.

How the word is built

• up (Old English up, in a higher position)
• -ward (Old English -weard, in the direction of)