upward
Americanadverb
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toward a higher place or position.
The birds flew upward.
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toward a higher or more distinguished condition, rank, level, etc..
His employer wishes to move him upward in the company.
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to a greater degree; more.
fourscore and upward.
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toward a large city, the source or origin of a stream, or the interior of a country or region.
They followed the Thames River upward from the North Sea to London.
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in the upper parts; above.
adjective
idioms
adjective
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of upward
before 900; Middle English; Old English upweard (cognate with Dutch opwaart ). See up-, -ward
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.
It's likely Saturday we'll see another warmest day of the year as temperatures continue to tick upward.
From BBC • May 22, 2026
The company is entering a sweet spot of elevated aluminum prices and easing alumina costs, supporting expectations for a strong 2026 earnings upward cycle, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Researchers believe dense streams of solar wind squeezed Earth's magnetic field so strongly that the upper atmosphere became heated and expanded upward.
From Science Daily • May 22, 2026
Function Health, for one, offers members upward of 160 lab tests a year for $365 and recently partnered with Equinox to give a discount to members of the gym.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
Holding on to wrought-iron balustrades, guests would then ascend thirty stairs that curved upward to the first- floor landing, whose sky-blue ceiling that Daddy had replicated at our house was like the heavens.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
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.
