upside down

See synonyms for: upside downupsidedown on Thesaurus.com

adverb
  1. with the upper part undermost.

  2. in or into complete disorder; topsy-turvy: The burglars turned the house upside down.

Origin of upside down

1
1300–50; re-formation (see upside) of Middle English upsedoun, earlier up so doun (see up, so1, down1; sense of so obscure)

Other words from upside down

  • upside-down, adjective
  • upside-downness, noun

Words Nearby upside down

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use upside down in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for upside down

upside down

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

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

adverb
  1. in an inverted fashion

  2. in a chaotic or crazy manner

Origin of upside down

1
C16: variant, by folk etymology, of earlier upsodown

Derived forms of upside down

  • upside-downness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012