upbeat

See also: up-beat

English

Alternative forms

• up-beat

Etymology

Etymology tree

English up-

Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-der.?

Proto-Germanic *bautaną

Proto-West Germanic *bautan

Old English bēatan

Middle English beten

English beat

English upbeat

From up- + beat.

Pronunciation

• (adjective) IPA^(key): /ʌpˈbit/
• (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈʌpˌbit/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːt

Adjective

upbeat (comparative more upbeat, superlative most upbeat)

1. Having a fast pace, tempo, or beat.

   The notes are easy, but it's an upbeat tune and should be played fairly quickly.

2. Having a positive, lively, or perky tone, attitude, etc.

   Though he had bad news, he ended with an upbeat forecast for the future.

   He sounded upbeat when I talked to him.

   • 2022 August 24, Steve Murphy tells Paul Stephen, “Rail + property: a winning combination”, in RAIL, number 964, page 48:

     But Murphy remains upbeat about the longer-term prospect of recovery and a resumption of the record growth in passenger volumes experienced in the UK in the two decades following privatisation.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “optimistic”): downbeat

Translations

Having a fast pace, tempo, or beat

• Finnish: nopeatempoinen, nopea (fi)
• French: entraînant (fr) m
• German: (colloquial, music) peppig, aufgedreht (de)
• Hungarian: gyors (hu), sebes (hu), szapora (hu), (describing a type of csárdás) friss (hu), pörgős
• Japanese: アップビートの (appubīto no)
• Russian: быстрый (ru) m (bystryj)
• Swedish: livad (sv), upptempo
• Turkish: vurgusuz tempolu

Having a positive, lively, or perky tone, attitude, etc.

• Bulgarian: оптимистичен (bg) (optimističen)
• Finnish: myönteinen (fi), optimistinen (fi)
• French: optimiste (fr)
• German: fröhlich (de), optimistisch (de), heiter und zuversichtlich gestimmt
• Hungarian: vidám (hu), jókedvű (hu), derűlátó (hu), optimista (hu)
• Japanese: 明るい (ja) (あかるい, akarui), アップビートの (appubīto no)
• Kazakh: сейдін (seidın), көтеріліңкі (köterılıñkı)
• Romanian: optimist (ro)
• Russian: жизнера́достный (ru) (žiznerádostnyj), бо́дрый (ru) (bódryj)
• Spanish: optimista (es), positivo (es)
• Swedish: munter (sv), positiv (sv), upprymd (sv), uppspelt (sv), uppåt (sv), pigg (sv)
• Turkish: iyimser (tr), neşeli (tr)

Noun

upbeat (plural upbeats)

1. An unaccented beat at the start of a musical phrase.

   The conductor said: I give you three beats for nothing and then you come in on the upbeat.

Synonyms

• unaccented beat
• anticipatory note, anticipatory
• unstressed note, unstressed
• anacrusis
• pickup

Translations

unaccented beat at the start of a musical phrase

• French: levé (fr) m or c
• German: Auftakt (de) m
• Greek: άρση (el) f (ársi)
• Russian: затакт (ru) m (zatakt)

Anagrams

• beat up, beat-up