upstairs

See also: up stairs and up-stairs

English

Alternative forms

• up stairs, up-stairs (archaic)

Etymology

up- +‎ stair +‎ -s

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌʌpˈstɛɹz/, /ˈʌpˌstɛɹz/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʌpˈstɛəz/, /ˈʌpˌstɛəz/
• Hyphenation: up‧stairs

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)z

Adjective

upstairs (comparative further upstairs, superlative furthest upstairs)

1. Located on a higher floor or level of a building.

   They can sleep in the upstairs bedroom.

2. (baseball, informal) Pertaining to a pitched ball that is high, and usually outside the strike zone.

   That fastball was upstairs for a ball.

Derived terms

• upstairs-downstairs

Translations

located on a higher floor of a building

• Bulgarian: горе (bg) (gore)
• Chickasaw: aba'
• Esperanto: superŝtupara
• Greek:

  Ancient: ὑπερῷος (huperôios)

• Hungarian: fenti (hu), emeleti (hu)
• Persian: طبقهٔ بالا (fa) (tabaqe-ye bâlâ)
• Polish: na górze (pl)
• Ukrainian: ве́рхній по́верх (vérxnij póverx)

Adverb

upstairs (comparative further upstairs, superlative furthest upstairs)

1. Up the stairs; on a higher floor or level.

   I’ll take my shoes and put them away the next time I go upstairs.

   I hate the people who live upstairs, and I especially hate their piano.

   • 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 255:

     There was more dancing and singing up stairs, more wit and conversation below; all were at liberty, and all stayed late; and all talked so much of the happiness they had enjoyed, that Lady Anne felt herself exceedingly tempted to give another party before the season finally closed.

   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter IV, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), pages 40–41:

     In a large bedroom upstairs, the window of which was thickly curtained with a great woollen shawl lately discarded by the landlady, Mrs. Rolliver, were gathered on this evening nearly a dozen persons, all seeking vinous bliss; […]

   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     Marsha, let’s go upstairs!

     Audio (US)

     (file)

   • 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:

     On arrival at Birmingham New Street, I make my way upstairs to the mezzanine to get shots of an almost deserted concourse, polka-dotted with social distancing circles like some strange board-game.

2. (informal) In the brain or mind.

   After Joe did a hula dance on the kitchen table, his friends wondered if he didn’t have a lot going on upstairs.

3. (informal) In heaven, especially with regard to where a deity might be found.

Antonyms

• downstairs

Derived terms

• boot upstairs
• go upstairs
• kick upstairs
• Man Upstairs

 

Translations

up the stairs; on a higher floor or level

• Belarusian: (direction) наве́рх (navjérx), уве́рх (uvjérx), ўверх (ŭvjerx); (location) наве́рсе (navjérsje), уве́рсе (uvjérsje), ўве́рсе (ŭvjérsje)
• Bulgarian: горе (bg) (gore), на горния етаж (na gornija etaž)
• Catalan: dalt (ca)
• Chickasaw: aba'
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 樓上／楼上 (zh) (lóushàng)

• Dutch: boven (nl)
• Esperanto: superŝtupare
• Finnish: yläkerrassa (location), yläkertaan (direction)
• French: en haut (fr), à l’étage (fr)
• German: treppauf (de), oben (de), nach oben (where to), herauf (de)
• Greek: πάνω (el) (páno)
• Hungarian: odafönt (hu), odafent (hu), odafenn (hu), az emeleten
• Indonesian: lantai atas
• Irish: suas an staighre (direction), thuas an staighre (location)
• Italian: di sopra
• Japanese: 階上 (ja) (かいじょう, kaijō)
• Korean: 위층에 (ko) (wicheung'e), 위층으로 (ko) (wicheung'euro) (where to)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: سەرەوە (serewe)

• Norman: à haut
• Old English: uppe (where), upp (where to)
• Ottoman Turkish: یوقاری (yukarı)
• Polish: na górze (pl) (where); na górę (where to)
• Portuguese: em cima (pt)
• Russian: наверху́ (ru) (naverxú) (where), вверху́ (ru) (vverxú) (where), на ве́рхнем этаже́ (na vérxnem etažé) (where); наве́рх (ru) (navérx) (where to), вверх (ru) (vverx) (where to), на ве́рхний эта́ж (na vérxnij etáž) (where to)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: górjejce

• Spanish: arriba (es)
• Sundanese: tonggoh
• Ukrainian: (location) вгорі́ (uk) (vhorí); (direction) вго́ру (uk) (vhóru)
• Welsh: lan lofft (South), lan staer (South), i fyny'r grisiau (North)
• Yiddish: אויבן (oybn)

Noun

upstairs (plural upstairs)

1. An upper storey.
2. (slang, euphemistic) A woman's breasts.