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Definition of upset verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

upset

verb
 
/ʌpˈset/
 
/ʌpˈset/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they upset
 
/ʌpˈset/
 
/ʌpˈset/
he / she / it upsets
 
/ʌpˈsets/
 
/ʌpˈsets/
past simple upset
 
/ʌpˈset/
 
/ʌpˈset/
past participle upset
 
/ʌpˈset/
 
/ʌpˈset/
-ing form upsetting
 
/ʌpˈsetɪŋ/
 
/ʌpˈsetɪŋ/
Idioms
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  1. to make somebody/yourself feel unhappy, anxious or annoyed synonym distress
    • upset somebody/yourself This decision is likely to upset a lot of people.
    • Try not to let him upset you.
    • Don't upset yourself about it—let's just forget it ever happened.
    • He had clearly been upset by the incident.
    • it upsets somebody that… It upset him that nobody had bothered to tell him about it.
    • it upsets somebody to do something It upsets me to think of her all alone in that big house.
    Extra Examples
    • I'm sorry—I didn't mean to upset you.
    • Keep the volume down—we don't want to upset the neighbours!
    • She was sensitive and easily upset.
    • She's obviously deeply upset by his behaviour.
    • upset by the death of their pet
    Topics Feelingsb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • badly
    • deeply
    • really
    verb + upset
    • not mean to
    • not want to
    • not wish to
    See full entry
  2. upset something to make a plan, situation, etc. go wrong
    • He arrived an hour late and upset all our arrangements.
    Extra Examples
    • Their plans were upset even more by days of torrential rain.
    • The disagreement further upset relations between the two countries.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • badly
    • deeply
    • really
    verb + upset
    • not mean to
    • not want to
    • not wish to
    See full entry
  3. upset somebody’s stomach to make somebody feel sick (= want to vomit) after they have eaten or drunk somethingTopics Health problemsb1
  4. upset something to make something fall over by hitting it by accident
    • She stood up suddenly, upsetting a glass of water.
Idioms
upset the apple cart
  1. to cause problems for somebody or cause their plans, arrangements, etc. to fail
See upset in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee upset in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 3000
B1
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