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

• 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.

2. In great disorder.

   The thief had turned the room upside down.

   • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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)
• Catalan: a l'inrevés (ca)
• Czech: vzhůru nohama
• Danish: omvendt, på hovedet
• Dutch: ondersteboven (nl)
• Finnish: ylösalaisin (fi), nurinperin
• French: à l'envers, sens dessus dessous (fr)
• German: auf dem Kopf, verkehrt herum, verkehrt rum
• Greek: ανάποδα (el) (anápoda)
• Haitian Creole: tèt anba
• Hebrew: הָפוּךְ m (hafúch)
• Hungarian: fejjel lefelé
• Icelandic: á hvolfi
• Irish: bunoscionn
• Italian: a rovescio, sottosopra, al rovescio, a testa in giù, al contrario
• Japanese: 逆さに (sakasa ni), 逆さまに (sakasama ni)
• Korean: 거꾸로 (ko) (geokkuro)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Kurdish: , ,
• Latin: inversus
• Maori: kōaro
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: opp ned

  Nynorsk: opp ned

• Polish: do góry nogami (pl)
• Portuguese: de cabeça para baixo, de ponta-cabeça
• Romanian: cu fundul în sus, cu susul în jos
• Russian: вверх дно́м (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
• Swedish: upp och ned (sv), uppochned (sv), upp och ner (sv), uppochner (sv)
• Tagalog: tumbalik
• 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
• Irish: trí chéile
• Italian: sottosopra, a soqquadro
• Kurdish: ,
• Portuguese: de pernas para o ar
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: pe dos
• Russian: кувырко́м (ru) (kuvyrkóm)
• Scots: awhummle
• Slovak: hore nohami
• Spanish: de cabeza
• 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

• upside-down cake

Translations

inverted

• Catalan: a l'inrevés (ca), cap per avall
• Danish: omvendt
• Dutch: omgekeerd (nl), op z'n kop
• French: à l’envers (fr)
• Greek: ανάποδος (el) (anápodos)
• Hebrew: הָפוּךְ m (hafúch)
• Hungarian: fordított (hu), megfordított, fejjel lefelé fordított
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Irish: bun os cionn
• Italian: invertito (it), inverso (it), capovolto (it), rovesciato (it)
• Japanese: 逆さ (sakasa), 逆さま (sakasama)
• Portuguese: de cabeça para baixo, de ponta-cabeça
• Slovak: obrátený
• Spanish: al revés
• Turkish: altüst (tr)
• Vietnamese: lộn ngược

having negative equity

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Anagrams

• downside up