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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

upper.

At a higher physical position, level, rank or order.

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈʌpə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈʌpɚ/General-American/ˈʊpə/Northern-England
  1. At a higher physical position, level, rank or order.

  2. Situated on higher ground, further inland, more upstream, or more northerly.

  3. Younger, more recent.

  4. Of or pertaining to a secondary school.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Germanic *ub Proto-Germanic *upp Proto-West Germanic *upp Old English upp Middle English up Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Germanic *-izô Proto-West Germanic *-iʀō Proto-Germanic *-ōzô Proto-West Germanic *-ōʀō Old English -ra Middle English -er Middle English upper English upper Inherited from Middle English upper. By surface analysis, up + -er.

noun/ˈʌpə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈʌpɚ/General-American/ˈʊpə/Northern-England
  1. A stimulant, such as amphetamine, that increases energy and decreases appetite.

  2. A stimulant, such as amphetamine, that increases energy and decreases appetite. Anything that cheers one up.

  3. The upper portion of something.

  4. The upper portion of something. The piece of material that forms the top part of a shoe or boot above the sole.

    genuine leather upper / balance manmade [label on a shoe]
  5. The upper portion of something. The Y-shaped strap on flip-flops.

  6. Someone with higher social standing

  7. Someone with higher social standing A senior student.

  8. That which is higher, contrasted with the lower.

  9. That which is higher, contrasted with the lower. A tooth in the upper jaw.

  10. That which is higher, contrasted with the lower. A denture or retainer for the teeth in the upper jaw.

  11. That which is higher, contrasted with the lower. An upper berth or bunk.

  12. A spiritual passageway through which consciousness can reach a higher dimension.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Germanic *ub Proto-Germanic *upp Proto-West Germanic *upp Old English upp Middle English up Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Germanic *-izô Proto-West Germanic *-iʀō Proto-Germanic *-ōzô Proto-West Germanic *-ōʀō Old English -ra Middle English -er Middle English upper English upper Inherited from Middle English upper. By surface analysis, up + -er.

verb/ˈʌpə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈʌpɚ/General-American/ˈʊpə/Northern-England
  1. To fix an upper onto a shoe.

    rare
  2. To raise.

    nonstandard
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *upó Proto-Germanic *ub Proto-Germanic *upp Proto-West Germanic *upp Old English upp Middle English up Proto-Indo-European *-yōs Proto-Germanic *-izô Proto-West Germanic *-iʀō Proto-Germanic *-ōzô Proto-West Germanic *-ōʀō Old English -ra Middle English -er Middle English upper English upper Inherited from Middle English upper. By surface analysis, up + -er.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.