upset

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

upset

/ʌpˈsɛt/ Canada, US, UK
/ɐpˈset/ Australia, New Zealand
/ˈʌp.sɛt/ Canada, US, UK
/ˈɐp.set/ Australia, New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɛt, -ʌpsɛt

Where it comes from

From Middle English upset (“the act of setting up; establishment”), from Middle English upsetten, corresponding to up- + set. Cognate with Middle Low German upset (“setup; arrangement”).

adjective more upset · most upset

predicative Angry, distressed, or unhappy He was upset when she refused his friendship.
Feeling unwell, nauseated, or ready to vomit. His stomach was upset, so he didn't want to move.

Similar: in a tizzy

noun upsets

uncountable Disturbance or disruption. My late arrival caused the professor considerable upset.
countable An unexpected victory of a competitor or candidate that was not favored to win. But it is probably the biggest upset for the away side since Ronnie Radford smashed a famous goal as Hereford defeated Newcastle 2-1 in 1972.
countable, uncountable An overturn. "collision and upset": impact with another object or an overturn for whatever reason.
countable, uncountable An upset stomach. “Bob, let's cancel the baby sitter. With this upset stomach, I can't go out tonight.” “Sure you can, Liz! Try Pepto-Bismol. Hospital tests prove it relieves upsets. And it's great for indigestion or nausea, too!”
countable, uncountable An upper set; a subset (X,≤) of a partially ordered set with the property that, if x is in U and x≤y, then y is in U.
countable, uncountable The dangerous situation where the flight attitude or airspeed of an aircraft is outside the designed bounds of operation, possibly resulting in loss of control. The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the unfavorable interaction of severe vertical air drafts and large longitudinal control displacements resulting in a longitudinal upset from which a successful recovery was not made.
countable, uncountable A woven row supporting the foundation rods for the uprights of a basket. Willow basket making, an artisan inserting bye-stakes in the upsets.

verb upsets · upsetting · upset

transitive To make (a person) angry, distressed, or unhappy. I’m sure the bad news will upset him, but he needs to know.
transitive To disturb, disrupt or adversely alter (something). Introducing a foreign species can upset the ecological balance.
transitive To tip or overturn (something). 1924, W. D. Ross translator, Aristitle, Metaphysics, Book 1, Part 9, The Classical Library, Nashotah, Wisconsin, 2001. But this argument, which first Anaxagoras and later Eudoxus and certain others used, is very easily upset; for it is not difficult to collect many insuperable objections to such a v
transitive To defeat unexpectedly. Truman upset Dewey in the 1948 US presidential election.
intransitive To be upset or knocked over. The carriage upset when the horse bolted.
obsolete To set up; to put upright. with sail on mast upset
To thicken and shorten a soft or heated piece of metal, by forging or hammering on the end, to shape, for example, rivets or internal combustion engine valves.
To shorten (a tire) in the process of resetting, originally by cutting it and hammering on the ends.
transitive To support with an upset (type of woven row). Very coarse work is sided up without an upsett, or is upsetted with a pair instead of a wale.

Talk about this word