upright

[uhp-rahyt, uhp-rahyt] /ˈʌpˌraɪt, ʌpˈraɪt/
adjective
1.
erect or vertical, as in position or posture.
2.
raised or directed vertically or upward.
3.
adhering to rectitude; righteous, honest, or just:
an upright person.
4.
being in accord with what is right:
upright dealings.
noun
5.
the state of being upright or vertical.
6.
something standing erect or vertical, as a piece of timber.
7.
an upright piano.
8.
Usually, uprights. Chiefly Football. the goalposts.
adverb
9.
in an upright position or direction; vertically.
verb (used with object)
10.
to make upright.
Origin
before 900; Middle English, Old English upriht (cognate with German aufrecht). See up, right
Related forms
uprightly, adverb
uprightness, noun
nonupright, adjective, noun
nonuprightly, adverb
nonuprightness, noun
Synonyms
1. plumb. Upright, erect, vertical, perpendicular imply that something is in the posture of being straight upward, not leaning. That which is upright is in a position corresponding to that of a person standing up: a decaying tree no longer standing upright; an upright piano. Erect emphasizes the straightness of position or posture: proud and erect; A flagpole stands erect. Vertical suggests upward direction, especially along the shortest line from the earth to a level above it: the vertical edge of a door; ornamented by vertical lines. Perpendicular, a term frequently interchangeable with vertical, is used especially in mathematics: the perpendicular side of a right triangle; to erect a perpendicular line from the base of a figure. 3. honorable. 6. pole, prop, pier, pile, column.
Antonyms
1. leaning, horizontal.
Examples from the web for upright
  • But it may be worth remembering that lying flat on your back is unarguably more stable than standing upright.
  • He is considered an upright and honorable gentleman.
  • Durable as they had been, the fossil footprints, the earliest indisputable evidence of upright walking by human.
  • Since the rungs fit between the uprights either way round, the quits attached to a given upright can come in any order.
  • Studies of perception show the importance of being upright.
  • The only upright laceleaf, this has a distinctly feathery green look.
  • It is not fate that plops them down at the end of their jumps, more or less upright and safe, in a cloud of powdery snow.
  • The first job of an architect is to design buildings that stay upright.
  • Three-foot-long upright plant and grub eater with a soft, doglike nose pointing forward.
  • She stretches her legs and rises to an upright position.
British Dictionary definitions for upright

upright

/ˈʌpˌraɪt/
adjective
1.
vertical or erect
2.
honest, honourable, or just
adverb
3.
vertically
noun
4.
a vertical support, such as a stake or post
5.
short for upright piano
6.
the state of being vertical
verb
7.
(transitive) to make upright
Derived Forms
uprightly, adverb
uprightness, noun
Word Origin and History for upright

Old English upriht, from up "up" + riht "right." Similar compounds are found in other Germanic languages (cf. Old Frisian upriucht, Middle Dutch oprecht, Old High German ufreht, German aufrecht, Old Norse uprettr). Figurative sense of "good, honest" is first attested 1520s. The noun in the sense of "something standing erect" is from 1742.

THREE-PENNY UPRIGHT. A retailer of love, who, for the sum mentioned, dispenses her favours standing against a wall. ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1811]


The bent-over rear-entry posture they are talking about, of course, is kubda, the three-obol position at the bottom-end of a prostitute's price-range. [James N. Davidson, "Courtesans and Fishcakes: The Consuming Passions of Classical Athens," 1997]

Idioms and Phrases with upright

upright

see: bolt upright