upbringing
Americannoun
noun
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.
Like any great artist, Grohl is a product of her surroundings, and that can’t help but include a very specific, unlikely upbringing.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
Ms. Clark stages smart, probing explorations of an upbringing marked by waiting and repetition, in which the notion of growth appears fictitious.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Salam's writing is both colloquial and kaleidoscopic, and the combination of high literary aspirations and streetwise storytelling can be traced back to his upbringing.
From BBC • May 22, 2026
Back in 2005, when Roberts rhapsodized about Indiana farmland and an endless horizon punctuated only by silos and barns, he was substituting a humble, real-life Midwest upbringing for his own.
From Slate • May 7, 2026
His upbringing was hectic, to say the least.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
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.
