upscale
Americanadjective
-
located at, moving toward, or of or for the upper end of a social or economic scale.
The boutique caters to upscale young career people.
-
luxurious, costly, or elegant.
verb (used with object)
noun
adjective
verb
Etymology
Origin of upscale
Explanation
Things that are upscale are made for rich people — they are high class, well made, or just plain pricey. If your friend takes you to a fancy, expensive restaurant for your birthday, you can describe it using the word upscale. Upscale neighborhoods are full of lovely, high-priced homes, and upscale vacations might involve yachts, exotic beaches, and private planes. Upscale is the opposite of downscale, which you could use to describe a run-down motel or a grubby, cheap diner. Both adjectives first came into use in the mid-1960s.
Vocabulary lists containing upscale
A Wealth Of Words: Synonyms for "Rich"
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Outcasts United
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Parker Inheritance
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
And the country sure does look splendid through the windows of brand new cars, upscale hotels and expensive ski resorts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The 125,000-square-foot upscale mall, featuring shops, restaurants and a movie theater, survived the blaze but required renovations that cost its owner and developer Rick Caruso more than $100 million, including major infrastructure work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Courts have also opened at upscale malls, including two in the L.A. area.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Witnesses said men dressed like police officers entered the home Macías had rented in an upscale neighbourhood in the town of Olón, on Ecuador's Pacific coast.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
But some harbingers horrify the old-timers: upscale restaurants, boutique windows displaying expensive designer jewelry, and the arrival of the first-ever chain store, a Ralph Lauren shop.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Granted, this upscaled, agreeably rangy treatment of an adventure storyline that wouldn’t have been out of place on the show could have attempted more.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
China's community football projects have indeed been hugely upscaled, with pitches now accessible all over the country.
From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2025
The Nature Nanotechnology article describes an innovative graphene-based neurotechnology that can be upscaled using established semiconductor fabrication processes, holding the potential for a transformative impact.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 13, 2024
FSR 2.0’s temporal upscaling uses previous frame color, depth and motion vectors in the rendering pipeline to create very high-quality upscaled output with optimized anti-aliasing across all image quality presets and output resolutions.
From The Verge ● Mar. 17, 2022
The bigger question, propelling this feisty, funny and poignant comedy-drama arriving Friday, is how much its setting — Boyle Heights, Los Angeles — can be upscaled and “discovered” until it is no longer Boyle Heights.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2020
For others, such as Leeds United in northern England and Spanish team Getafe, upscaling is essential to stay competitive in major leagues where player transfer fees and salaries are huge.
From Barron's ● Mar. 11, 2026
The weight penalty includes not only the electrics but everything it takes to make that mass manageable on the road, upscaling everything from tires and wheels to suspension and steering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
It made a big deal of PC-exclusive features including unlocked frame rates, upscaling tech and support for ultrawide displays seen as an advantage souped-up gaming rigs.
From BBC ● May 31, 2024
These findings provide strong evidence for integrating and upscaling nature-based components into coastal defenses, but the team advised doing so with caution.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 9, 2024
Making “Revanchist,” he returned to old project files dating back to 2014, rummaging through unfinished ideas and upscaling the freshest ones.
From New York Times ● Oct. 23, 2023
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.
