upside down

See also: upsidedown

English

A nuthatch upside down.

Alternative forms

• up so down (14th-16th centuries)
• downside up

Etymology

Alteration of earlier up so down, from Middle English up-so-doun, upsedowne, upsadowne (“upside down”), equivalent to up +‎ so +‎ down ("up as down").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (careful speech) /ˌʌpsaɪd ˈdaʊn/, (fast speech) /ˌʌpsaɪˈdaʊn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adverb

upside down (not comparable)

1. Inverted, so that the top is now at the bottom.

   The Union flag was flying upside down, a sign of danger.

   • 1937, “A Foggy Day (In London Town)”, Ira Gershwin (lyrics), George Gershwin (music):

     For, suddenly, I saw you there / And through foggy London town / The sun was shining upside down!

2. In great disorder.

   The thief had turned the room upside down.

   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     This house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler died.

Synonyms

• (inverted): bottom-upwards, topsy-turvy

Translations

inverted

• Armenian: գլխիվայր (hy) (glxivayr), թարս (hy) (tʻars), շուռ տված (šuṙ tvac)
• Assamese: ওলোটা (ülüta)
• Azerbaijani: alt-üst, tərsinə
• Bulgarian: наопаки (bg) (naopaki)
• Catalan: a l'inrevés (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 反 (faan²)

  Mandarin: 反 (zh) (fǎn)

• Czech: vzhůru nohama
• Danish: omvendt, på hovedet
• Dutch: ondersteboven (nl)
• Estonian: kummuli
• Finnish: ylösalaisin (fi), nurinperin
• French: à l'envers, sens dessus dessous (fr)
• Galician: cabeza abaixo
• Georgian: თავდაყირა (tavdaq̇ira)
• German: auf dem Kopf, verkehrt herum, verkehrt rum, umgekehrt (de)
• Greek: ανάποδα (el) (anápoda)
• Haitian Creole: tèt anba
• Hebrew: הָפוּךְ m (hafúch)
• Hungarian: fejjel lefelé (hu)
• Iban: tunsang
• Icelandic: á hvolfi
• Irish: bunoscionn
• Italian: a rovescio, sottosopra (it), al rovescio, a testa in giù, al contrario
• Japanese: 逆さに (ja) (sakasa ni), 逆さまに (ja) (sakasama ni)
• Korean: 거꾸로 (ko) (geokkuro)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: sernişîv (ku), serberjêr (ku), nixûm (ku)

• Latin: inversus
• Malay: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: kōaro
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: opp ned

  Nynorsk: opp ned

• Polish: do góry nogami (pl)
• Portuguese: de cabeça para baixo, de ponta-cabeça
• Punjabi: ਪੁੱਠਾ (puṭṭhā)
• Romanian: cu fundul în sus, cu susul în jos
• Russian: вверх дно́м (ru) (vverx dnóm), вверх нога́ми (vverx nogámi), кверх нога́ми (kverx nogámi) (colloquial)
• Scottish Gaelic: bun-os-cionn
• Slovak: naopak, dole hlavou, hore nohami
• Spanish: al revés, boca abajo, bocabajo, de cabeza
• Swedish: upp och ner (sv), uppochner (sv), upp och ned (sv), uppochned (sv)
• Tagalog: tumbalik, tiwarik (tl)
• Ukrainian: догори́ дри́ґом (dohorý drýgom), вверх дно́м (vverx dnóm), вверх нога́ми (uk) (vverx nohámy)
• Vietnamese: lộn ngược
• Walloon: cou å hôt
• Welsh: ben ucha'n isa'

in great disorder

• Finnish: sekaisin (fi), ylösalaisin (fi), sotkussa (fi)
• French: sens dessus dessous (fr)
• Greek: άνω κάτω (el) (áno káto)
• Hebrew: הָפוּךְ m (hafúch)
• Hungarian: szanaszét (hu)
• Irish: trí chéile
• Italian: sottosopra (it), a soqquadro
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: serûbin (ku), tarûmar (ku)

• Polish: do góry nogami (pl)
• Portuguese: de pernas para o ar
• Romanian: pe dos
• Russian: кувырко́м (ru) (kuvyrkóm)
• Scots: awhummle
• Slovak: hore nohami
• Spanish: de cabeza, patas arriba (es)
• Swedish: upp och ned (sv)
• Vietnamese: đổ lộn
• Walloon: cou dzeu cou dzo (wa)

Adjective

upside down (not comparable)

1. Inverted; turned so that the top is at the bottom.

   The pattern resembled an upside down letter W.

2. In great disorder.
   • 1901, Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr, The lion's whelp: a story of Cromwell's time, page 248:

     The wenches and the men have been on the streets all day, and the kitchen is upside down. You never saw the like.

3. (finance) Owing more money for something than it is worth; having negative equity.

   He's upside down on his mortgage.

Synonyms

• (having negative equity): underwater

Derived terms

• turn one's life upside down
• turn one's world upside down
• turn the frown upside down
• turn upside down
• upside-down cake
• upside-down fire
• upside down fridge
• upside-down income statement
• upside-down tree

 

Translations

inverted

• Bikol Central: bulagsok, bugsok (bcl), suwi
• Bulgarian: обърнат (bg) (obǎrnat)
• Catalan: a l'inrevés (ca), cap per avall
• Danish: omvendt
• Dutch: omgekeerd (nl), op z'n kop
• Finnish: ylösalainen (fi)
• French: à l’envers (fr)
• Greek: ανάποδος (el) (anápodos)
• Hebrew: הָפוּךְ m (hafúch)
• Hungarian: fordított (hu), megfordított (hu), fejjel lefelé fordított
• Iban: tunsang
• Irish: bun os cionn
• Italian: invertito (it), inverso (it), capovolto (it), rovesciato (it), a testa in giù
• Japanese: 逆さ (ja) (sakasa), 逆さま (ja) (sakasama)
• Malay: please add this translation if you can
• Ottoman Turkish: وارون (varun)
• Portuguese: de cabeça para baixo, de ponta-cabeça
• Slovak: obrátený
• Spanish: al revés
• Swedish: uppochnedvänd (sv), uppochnervänd (sv)
• Turkish: altüst (tr)
• Vietnamese: lộn ngược
• Welsh: wyneb i waered

having negative equity

in great disorder

Proper noun

upside down

1. Alternative form of Upside Down
   • 2022 September, Scott R. Sheehan, “The President’s Prose: Inside, Outside, Upside Down”, in Music Educators Journal‎^[1], volume 109, number 1, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 7–10:

     It is in the upside down where we can find many opportunities to grow and learn.

   • 2023 January, Tess Bissell, “Teaching in the Upside Down: What Anti–Critical Race Theory Laws Tell Us About the First Amendment”, in Stanford Law Review‎^[2], volume 75, page 212:

     it asks courts to step into the reality educators face: the reality of teaching in the upside down.

Anagrams

• downside up