upside down

American  

adverb

1. with the upper part undermost.

2. in or into complete disorder; topsy-turvy.

   The burglars turned the house upside down.

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upside down British  

adjective

1. (usually postpositive; upside-down when prenominal) turned over completely; inverted

2. informal (upside-down when prenominal) confused; muddled; topsy-turvy

   an upside-down world

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adverb

1. in an inverted fashion

2. in a chaotic or crazy manner

Other Word Forms

• upside-down adjective
• upside-downness noun

Etymology

Origin of upside down

1300–50; re-formation ( upside ) of Middle English upsedoun, earlier up so doun ( up, so ¹, down ¹; sense of so obscure)

Example Sentences

“And the insult added to that injury is an innocent party’s financial life can be turned upside down based on someone else’s fraud — conducted in the far-off past and entirely unbeknownst to the law-abiding party.”

From MarketWatch

I did start dating a guy who was a narcissist, and my world shifted a bit, which temporarily turned my priorities upside down.

From MarketWatch

Maggie, for one, seemed to be having her own doubts about how the spirits had turned her life upside down.

From Literature

I held him upside down with both my arms.

From Literature

Wearing a grey hoodie sweatshirt with 'Fear' written upside down Malinin symbolically swotted away comments which represented the negative impact of social media.

From Barron's