upbringing

American  

[uhp-bring-ing] / ˈʌpˌbrɪŋ ɪŋ /

noun

1. the care and training of young children or a particular type of such care and training.

   His religious upbringing fitted him to be a missionary.

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upbringing British  

/ ˈʌpˌbrɪŋɪŋ /

noun

1. Also called: bringing-up.  the education of a person during his formative years

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Etymology

Origin of upbringing

First recorded in 1475–85; gerund of upbring “to rear children” (obsolete since the 16th century)

Explanation

Your upbringing is how you were raised as a child. You might have had a rough upbringing or a gentler one, but at least you made it this far. Looking at the base “bring” in upbringing, we find a Germanic origin meaning "to carry." You might consider the "carry" idea as a way to remember the word, considering a parent "carries" a child to adulthood, providing what then becomes the child’s upbringing.

Example Sentences

During part of their discussion, they explored what made Blume’s writing so revolutionary for young readers and how her own surprisingly frank upbringing gave her the freedom to go there.

From Slate • Apr. 18, 2026

The siblings begin to awaken to the possibility of their liberation, from both the Communist regime and the paralyzing taboos of their aristocratic upbringing.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

Adams had an itinerant upbringing, spending a formative part of his early years in Europe before moving to Ohio, where he attended high school and college.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Your upbringing taught you a lot about life, and you learned the value of hard work and patience and stamina and consistency by buying and selling homes and building a $6 million nest egg.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

He told stories of his own eccentric upbringing, and these made her laugh.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French