upset

From Middle English upset (“the act of setting up; establishment”), from Middle English upsetten, corresponding to up- +‎ set. Cognate with Middle Low German upset (“setup; arrangement”).

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

• enPR: ŭpsĕt, IPA^(key): /ˈʌpsɛt/

• Audio (US); “upset” (noun):

  (file)

Adjective, verb

• enPR: ŭpʹsĕtʹ, IPA^(key): /ʌpˈsɛt/

• Audio (US); “upset” (verb, adjective):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛt

upset (comparative more upset, superlative most upset)

1. (of a person, predicative only) Angry, distressed, or unhappy.

   He was upset when she refused his friendship.

   My children often get upset with their classmates.

   • 1981 December 5, Jana Runnals, Rosemary Schonfeld, “The Liberalisation of 'Women's Music'”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 20, page 9:

     We were shocked when we asked a disruptive man in the front row to move to the back, and when he subsequently left, the producer's helpers were so upset for him they gave him two free tickets to the next 'women's music' production.

2. (of a stomach or gastrointestinal tract, referred to as stomach) Feeling unwell, nauseated, or ready to vomit.

   His stomach was upset, so he didn't want to move.

• (angry, distressed, unhappy): See angry, distressed and unhappy
  • in a tizzy

• upset price
• upset stomach

upset (countable and uncountable, plural upsets)

1. (uncountable) Disturbance or disruption.

   My late arrival caused the professor considerable upset.

2. (countable, sports, politics) An unexpected victory of a competitor or candidate that was not favored to win.
   • 2011 January 8, Paul Fletcher, “Stevenage 3 - 1 Newcastle”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     But it is probably the biggest upset for the away side since Ronnie Radford smashed a famous goal as Hereford defeated Newcastle 2-1 in 1972.

   • 2016 March 9, Harry Enten, “What The Stunning Bernie Sanders Win In Michigan Means”, in FiveThirtyEight‎^[2]:

     Sanders’s win in Michigan was one of the greatest upsets in modern political history.

3. (automobile insurance) An overturn.

   "collision and upset": impact with another object or an overturn for whatever reason.

4. An upset stomach.
   • 1958 May 12, advertisement, Life, volume 44, number 19, page 110 [3]:

     "Bob, let's cancel the babysitter. With this upset stomach, I can't go out tonight.

     "Try Pepto-Bismol. Hospital tests prove it relieves upsets. And it's great for indigestion or nausea, too!"

5. (mathematics) An upper set; a subset (X,≤) of a partially ordered set with the property that, if x is in U and x≤y, then y is in U.
6. (aviation) The dangerous situation where the flight attitude or airspeed of an aircraft is outside the designed bounds of operation, possibly resulting in loss of control.
   • 1965 June 1, Civil Aeronautics Board, “Synopsis”, in Aircraft Accident Report: Northwest Airlines, Inc., Boeing 720B, N724US, Near Miami, Florida, February 12, 1963‎^[4], retrieved 25 November 2022, page 1:

     The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the unfavorable interaction of severe vertical air drafts and large longitudinal control displacements resulting in a longitudinal upset from which a successful recovery was not made.

• (disturbance, disruption): disruption, disturbance
• (unexpected victory of a competitor):

• jet upset
• upset the applecart
• upsetting thermometer

upset (third-person singular simple present upsets, present participle upsetting, simple past and past participle upset)

2. (transitive) To make (a person) angry, distressed, or unhappy.

   I’m sure the bad news will upset him, but he needs to know.

3. (transitive) To disturb, disrupt or adversely alter (something).

   Introducing a foreign species can upset the ecological balance.

   The fatty meat upset his stomach.

4. (transitive) To tip or overturn (something).
   • 1924, W. D. Ross translator, Aristitle, Metaphysics, Book 1, Part 9, The Classical Library, Nashotah, Wisconsin, 2001.

     But this argument, which first Anaxagoras and later Eudoxus and certain others used, is very easily upset; for it is not difficult to collect many insuperable objections to such a view.

5. (transitive) To defeat unexpectedly.

   Truman upset Dewey in the 1948 US presidential election.

6. (intransitive) To be upset or knocked over.

   The carriage upset when the horse bolted.

   • 1880 January 1, The Locomotive, volume 1, number 1, Hartford, Conn.: The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection And Insurance Company, page 9:

     [T]he locomotive exploded and upset, and was completely wrecked.

7. (obsolete) To set up; to put upright.
   • R. of Brunne

     with sail on mast upset

8. To thicken and shorten, as a heated piece of iron, by hammering on the end.
9. To shorten (a tire) in the process of resetting, originally by cutting it and hammering on the ends.

• (make someone angry, distressed or unhappy): See anger, distress, forset, and sadden
• (disturb, disrupt, adversely alter): disrupt, disturb, forset, turn upside down
• (tip, overturn): invert, overturn, forset, tip, tip over, tip up, turn over, turn upside down

• upset the applecart
• upset the natives

• TUPEs, Tse-p'u, puets, set up, set-up, setup, spute, stupe