Adjacent Words

Upright definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

UPRIGHT, a. upri'te or up'rite. [up and right. This word is marked in books with the accent on the first syllable. But it is frequently pronounced with the accent on the second, and the accent on the first syllable of its derivatives is inadmissible.]
1. Erect; perpendicular to the plane of the horizon; as an upright tree; an upright post. Among mechanics, plumb.
2. Erected; pricked up; shooting directly from the body.
All have their ears upright -
With chatt'ring teeth and bristling hair upright.
3. Honest; just; adhering to rectitude in all social intercourse; not deviating from correct moral principles; as an upright man. Job 1.
4. Conformable to moral rectitude.
Conscience rewards upright conduct with pleasure.
UP'RIGHT, n.
1. In architecture, a representation or draught of the front of a building; called also an elevation, or orthography.
2. Something standing erect or perpendicular.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: in a vertical position; not sloping; "an upright post" [syn: upright, unsloped]
2: of moral excellence; "a genuinely good person"; "a just cause"; "an upright and respectable man" [syn: good, just, upright]
3: upright in position or posture; "an erect stature"; "erect flower stalks"; "for a dog, an erect tail indicates aggression"; "a column still vertical amid the ruins"; "he sat bolt upright" [syn: erect, vertical, upright] [ant: unerect] n
1: a vertical structural member as a post or stake; "the ball sailed between the uprights" [syn: upright, vertical]
2: a piano with a vertical sounding board [syn: upright, upright piano]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Date: before 12th century 1. a. perpendicular, vertical b. erect in carriage or posture c. having the main axis or a main part perpendicular <upright freezer> 2. marked by strong moral rectitude <an upright citizen> • uprightly adverb • uprightness noun Synonyms: upright, honest, just, conscientious, scrupulous, honorable mean having or showing a strict regard for what is morally right. upright implies a strict adherence to moral principles <a stern and upright minister>. honest stresses adherence to such virtues as truthfulness, candor, fairness <known for being honest in business dealings>. just stresses conscious choice and regular practice of what is right or equitable <workers given just compensation>. conscientious and scrupulous imply an active moral sense governing all one's actions and painstaking efforts to follow one's conscience <conscientious in the completion of her assignments> <scrupulous in carrying out the terms of the will>. honorable suggests a firm holding to codes of right behavior and the guidance of a high sense of honor and duty <a difficult but honorable decision>. II. adverb Date: 12th century vertically upward ; in an upright position III. noun Date: 1683 1. the state of being upright ; perpendicular <a pillar out of upright> 2. something that stands upright; especially a football goalpost — usually used in plural 3. upright piano

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 erect, vertical (an upright posture; stood upright). 2 (of a piano) with vertical strings. 3 (of a person or behaviour) righteous; strictly honourable or honest. 4 (of a picture, book, etc.) greater in height than breadth. --n. 1 a post or rod fixed upright esp. as a structural support. 2 an upright piano. Derivatives: uprightly adv. uprightness n. Etymology: OE upriht (as UP, RIGHT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Upright Up"right`, a. (Golf) Designating a club in which the head is approximately at a right angle with the shaft.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Upright Up"right`, n. (Basketwork) A tool made from a flat strip of steel with chisel edges at both ends, bent into horseshoe, the opening between the cutting edges being adjustable, used for reducing splits to skeins. Called in full upright shave.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Upright Up"right`, a. [AS. upright, uppriht. See Up, and Right, a.] 1. In an erect position or posture; perpendicular; vertical, or nearly vertical; pointing upward; as, an upright tree. With chattering teeth, and bristling hair upright. --Dryden. All have their ears upright. --Spenser. 2. Morally erect; having rectitude; honest; just; as, a man upright in all his ways. And that man [Job] was perfect and upright. --Job i. 1. 3. Conformable to moral rectitude. Conscience rewards upright conduct with pleasure. --J. M. Mason. 4. Stretched out face upward; flat on the back. [Obs.] `` He lay upright.'' --Chaucer. Upright drill (Mach.), a drilling machine having the spindle vertical. Note: This word and its derivatives are usually pronounced in prose with the accent on the first syllable. But they are frequently pronounced with the accent on the second in poetry, and the accent on either syllable is admissible.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Upright Up"right`, n. Something standing upright, as a piece of timber in a building. See Illust. of Frame.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(uprights) 1. If you are sitting or standing upright, you are sitting or standing with your back straight, rather than bending or lying down. Helen sat upright in her chair... Jerrold pulled himself upright on the bed... He moved into an upright position. ADJ: usu ADJ after v, v-link ADJ, also ADJ n 2. An upright vacuum cleaner or freezer is tall rather than wide. ...the latest state-of-the-art upright vacuum cleaners. ADJ: ADJ n 3. An upright chair has a straight back and no arms. He was sitting on an upright chair beside his bed, reading. ADJ 4. You can refer to vertical posts or the vertical parts of an object as uprights. ...the uprights of a four-poster bed. N-COUNT 5. You can describe people as upright when they are careful to follow acceptable rules of behaviour and behave in a moral way. ...a very upright, trustworthy man. ADJ: usu ADJ n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Erect, perpendicular, vertical, on end. 2. Honest, just, honorable, conscientious, virtuous, good, pure, straightforward, faithful, true, trustworthy. 3. Virtuous, just, honorable.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Go upright; a word used by shoemakers, taylors and their servants, when any money is given to make them drink, and signifies, Bring it all out in liquor, though the donor intended less, and expects change, or some of his money, to be returned. Three-penny upright. See THREEPENNY UPRIGHT,

Moby Thesaurus

Christian, Klavier, Samson post, Steinway, angelic, arrowlike, at attention, azimuth circle, baby grand, baluster, balustrade, banister, base, blameless, bolt upright, caryatid, cast up, cembalo, clarichord, clavicembalo, clavichord, clavicittern, clavicymbal, clavicytherium, clavier, clean, colonnade, column, concert grand, conscientious, cottage piano, couched harp, creditable, dado, dead straight, decent, die, direct, doorjamb, doorpost, downright, dulcimer harpsichord, elevate, elevated, endways, endwise, equitable, erect, erectly, estimable, ethical, even, exalted, exemplary, fair, flat, footstalk, full of integrity, gatepost, godly, good, grand, grand piano, hammer dulcimer, harmonichord, harpsichord, high, high-minded, high-principled, highly respectable, hitching post, honest, honorable, horizontal, immaculate, impartial, in a line, incorruptible, inviolate, irreproachable, jack, jamb, just, king post, law-abiding, law-loving, law-revering, level, lift up, lifted, lineal, linear, lofty, manichord, manichordon, manly, melodion, melopiano, milepost, monochord, moral, mullion, newel-post, noble, normal, on end, on stilts, orthodiagonal, pair of virginals, parlor grand, pedestal, pedicel, peduncle, perpendicular, perpendicularly, pianette, pianino, piano, piano-violin, pianoforte, pier, pilaster, pile, piling, pillar, pitch, plinth, plumb, pole, post, principled, pure, queen-post, raise, raise aloft, raise up, raised, rampant, rear, rear aloft, rearing, rectilineal, rectilinear, reputable, respectable, right, right angle, right on end, right-minded, righteous, ruler-straight, saintlike, saintly, scrupulous, seraphic, set up, shaft, signpost, smooth, snubbing post, socle, sostinente pianoforte, spinet, spotless, square piano, staff, stainless, stalk, stanchion, stand, stand upright, stand-up, standard, standing up, stem, sterling, stile, stilted, straight, straight-cut, straight-front, straight-side, straight-up, straightforward, streamlined, subbase, sublime, surbase, true, true-dealing, true-devoted, true-disposing, true-souled, true-spirited, truehearted, trunk, trustworthy, unbending, unbent, unblemished, unbowed, unbroken, uncorrupt, uncorrupted, uncurved, undefiled, undeflected, undeviating, undistorted, unimpeachable, uninterrupted, unspotted, unstained, unsullied, unswerving, untarnished, unturned, up, up on end, upcast, upend, upended, upflung, upheave, uplift, uplifted, upraise, upraised, uprear, upreared, upright piano, uprighteous, uprightly, upstanding, upstandingly, upthrown, upwards, vertical, vertical circle, violin piano, virginal, virtuous, worthy, yeomanly