UPRIGHT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does upright mean? 

• UPRIGHT (noun)
  The noun UPRIGHT has 2 senses:

1. a vertical structural member as a post or stake

2. a piano with a vertical sounding board

  Familiarity information: UPRIGHT used as a noun is rare.

• UPRIGHT (adjective)
  The adjective UPRIGHT has 3 senses:

1. in a vertical position; not sloping

2. of moral excellence

3. upright in position or posture

  Familiarity information: UPRIGHT used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• UPRIGHT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A vertical structural member as a post or stake

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

upright; vertical

Context example:

the ball sailed between the uprights

Hypernyms ("upright" is a kind of...):

structural member (support that is a constituent part of any structure or building)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "upright"):

column; pillar ((architecture) a tall vertical cylindrical structure standing upright and used to support a structure)

jamb (upright consisting of a vertical side member of a door or window frame)

post (an upright consisting of a piece of timber or metal fixed firmly in an upright position)

scantling; stud (an upright in house framing)

scape; shaft ((architecture) upright consisting of the vertical part of a column)

stile (an upright that is a member in a door or window frame)

Holonyms ("upright" is a part of...):

goalpost (one of a pair of posts (usually joined by a crossbar) that are set up as a goal at each end of a playing field)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A piano with a vertical sounding board

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

upright; upright piano

Hypernyms ("upright" is a kind of...):

forte-piano; piano; pianoforte (a keyboard instrument that is played by depressing keys that cause hammers to strike tuned strings and produce sounds)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "upright"):

spinet (a small and compactly built upright piano)

• UPRIGHT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In a vertical position; not sloping

Synonyms:

unsloped; upright

Context example:

an upright post

Similar:

perpendicular; vertical (at right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line)

Derivation:

uprightness (position at right angles to the horizon)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of moral excellence

Synonyms:

good; just; upright

Context example:

an upright and respectable man

Similar:

righteous (characterized by or proceeding from accepted standards of morality or justice)

Derivation:

uprightness (righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Upright in position or posture

Synonyms:

erect; upright; vertical

Context example:

he sat bolt upright

Similar:

erectile (capable of being raised to an upright position)

straight; unbent; unbowed (erect in posture)

statant (standing on four feet)

stand-up (requiring a standing position)

standing (having a supporting base)

semi-upright (of animals that are partly erect)

semi-erect (of plants that are partly erect)

semi-climbing (of plants that are semi-climbers)

rampant; rearing (rearing on left hind leg with forelegs elevated and head usually in profile)

passant (in walking position with right foreleg raised)

orthostatic (pertaining to an upright standing posture)

fastigiate (having clusters of erect branches (often appearing to form a single column))

Attribute:

attitude; position; posture (the arrangement of the body and its limbs)

Derivation:

uprightness (the property of being upright in posture)

 Context examples 

His back was toward me, and at the first feel of my hand he leaped upright in the air and away from me, snarling and turning his head as he leaped.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Something so formal and arrangé in her air! and she sits so upright!

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Blessington, I think, sat upright in the bed, but of that I cannot be absolutely certain.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her fine figure was far less upright, her handsome face was deeply marked, and her hair was almost white.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

A position of the fetus during the labor and delivery process where the fetal back is straight, the head position is deflexed and upright on the spine.

(Deflexed Fetal Attitude, NCI Thesaurus)

Silver never moved; he watched them, very upright on his crutch, and looked as cool as ever I saw him.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It was only by a supreme effort of soul that she was able to keep upright and go on and do what she had to do.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

EXAMPLE(S): keep at room temperature, store upright.

(Biologic Handling Code, NCI Thesaurus/BRIDG)

There was a sense of justice in my father’s upright mind which rendered it necessary that he should approve highly to love strongly.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Handle-like devices designed to facilitate a person's ability to get upright and out of a bed.

(Bed Assist Bar Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)