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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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:
In 2017, he interviewed his daughter for the summer issue of Honeysuckle Magazine about her identity as a Black woman, her work as an artist and her unique upbringing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
A child's temperament, special educational needs, family support, finances and their own upbringing can all influence family life.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
He begins with a quick account of his upbringing in St. Louis and how, during college at Trinity in Connecticut, he fell in love with New York City.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Here, Szor and Abraham quietly demonstrate the lengths and risks of their allyship, pitting their relatively comfortable upbringing in Israel against their fervent quest to unlearn a propagandistic way of living.
From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2026
My mom's upbringing in Iran seemed to permeate other areas of her life in America.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Perhaps the difference in your upbringings plays a part.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
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 also 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
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.
