upset Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an unhappy and worried mental state
    perturbation; disturbance.
    • there was too much anger and disturbance
    • she didn't realize the upset she caused me
  2. noun the act of disturbing the mind or body
    overthrow; derangement.
    • his carelessness could have caused an ecological upset
    • she was unprepared for this sudden overthrow of their normal way of living
  3. noun a physical condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning
    disorder.
    • the doctor prescribed some medicine for the disorder
    • everyone gets stomach upsets from time to time
  4. noun a tool used to thicken or spread metal (the end of a bar or a rivet etc.) by forging or hammering or swaging
    swage.
  5. noun the act of upsetting something
    overturn; turnover.
    • he was badly bruised by the upset of his sled at a high speed
  6. noun an improbable and unexpected victory
    overturn.
    • the biggest upset since David beat Goliath
  7. verb disturb the balance or stability of
    • The hostile talks upset the peaceful relations between the two countries
  8. verb cause to lose one's composure
    untune; discompose; disconcert; discomfit.
  9. verb move deeply
    disturb; trouble.
    • This book upset me
    • A troubling thought
  10. verb cause to overturn from an upright or normal position
    turn over; tip over; tump over; knock over; overturn; bowl over.
    • The cat knocked over the flower vase
    • the clumsy customer turned over the vase
    • he tumped over his beer
  11. verb form metals with a swage
    swage.
  12. verb defeat suddenly and unexpectedly
    • The foreign team upset the local team
  13. adjective satellite afflicted with or marked by anxious uneasiness or trouble or grief
    distressed; disturbed; disquieted; worried.
    • too upset to say anything
    • spent many disquieted moments
    • distressed about her son's leaving home
    • lapsed into disturbed sleep
    • worried parents
    • a worried frown
    • one last worried check of the sleeping children
  14. adjective satellite thrown into a state of disarray or confusion
    broken; confused; disordered.
    • troops fleeing in broken ranks
    • a confused mass of papers on the desk
    • the small disordered room
    • with everything so upset
  15. adjective satellite used of an unexpected defeat of a team favored to win
    • the Bills' upset victory over the Houston Oilers
  16. adjective satellite mildly physically distressed
    • an upset stomach
  17. adjective satellite having been turned so that the bottom is no longer the bottom
    upturned; overturned.
    • an overturned car
    • the upset pitcher of milk
    • sat on an upturned bucket

WordNet

Up*set" transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To set up; to put upright. Obs. "With sail on mast upset." R. of Brunne.
  2. (a) To thicken and shorten, as a heated piece of iron, by hammering on the end. (b) To shorten (a tire) in the process of resetting, originally by cutting it and hammering on the ends.
  3. To overturn, overthrow, or overset; as, to upset a carriage; to upset an argument. "Determined somehow to upset the situation." Mrs. Humphry Ward.
  4. To disturb the self-possession of; to disorder the nerves of; to make ill; as, the fright upset her. Colloq.
Up*set" intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To become upset.
Up"set` adjective
Definitions
  1. Set up; fixed; determined; -- used chiefly or only in the phrase upset price; that is, the price fixed upon as the minimum for property offered in a public sale, or, in an auction, the price at which property is set up or started by the auctioneer, and the lowest price at which it will be sold.
    After a solemn pause, Mr. Glossin offered the upset price for the lands and barony of Ellangowan. Sir W. Scott.
Up"set` noun
Definitions
  1. The act of upsetting, or the state of being upset; an overturn; as, the wagon had an upset.

Webster 1913