upbringing
Americannoun
-
upbringings
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing upbringing
"Marriage is a Private Affair" by Chinua Achebe
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "U"
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Elijah of Buxton
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Harp has shared little about her upbringing publicly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
When he does speak, his words carry a faint Southern twang from his upbringing in Alabama.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
Parton, who died this week aged 80, launched the philanthropic effort in 1995 to honour her father - whose difficult Appalachian upbringing never allowed him to finish school or learn to read and write.
From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026
And the music of both Parton’s and Smarsh’s upbringing was “foremost a language among women. It’s how we talked to each other in a place where feelings aren’t discussed.”
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
Nothing the revered Dr. Bulkeley could say or do could be wrong in his pupil’s eyes, even the fervent defense of the King’s policies which went against all John’s upbringing.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
Both had tough upbringings marked by an absent father, intermittently absent mother and reliable grandparents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The Iranian Lego team, as they refer to themselves, is a small group that has found broad appeal by capitalizing on Millennial and Gen Z nostalgia for a toy central to their upbringings.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
A former police captain, vice president-elect Edman Lara is known for his humble upbringings and whistleblowing on police corruption.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2025
It prompts others to chime in, openly sharing stories about their upbringings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2024
I'd always known that my mom and I had completely different upbringings.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
