uppercase

1 of 4

adjective

up·​per·​case ˌə-pər-ˈkās How to pronounce uppercase (audio)

uppercase

2 of 4

noun (1)

: capital letters

uppercase

3 of 4

verb

uppercased; uppercasing

transitive verb

: to print or set in capital letters

upper case

4 of 4

noun (2)

: a type case containing capitals and usually small capitals, fractions, symbols, and accents

Examples of uppercase in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
It's also supposed to be lowercase, not uppercase, according to the Associated Press stylebook. Amy Huschka, Detroit Free Press, 9 Mar. 2024 That’s where an assortment of uppercase E’s face in different directions. John Kelly, Washington Post, 12 Dec. 2023 Set the keyboard to display only uppercase letters The iPhone keyboard alternates between lowercase and uppercase letters depending on the shift setting, but the lowercase characters can be harder to see. Popular Science, 9 Nov. 2023 For their secure password requirements, many Internet service providers rely on 2003 guidelines published by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology that recommend passwords with as large a mix of special characters, uppercase letters and lowercase letters as possible. Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 13 June 2023 Very often, you are forced to use special characters, numbers, and uppercase and lowercase letters in a password. Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 13 June 2023 Writing without uppercase letters entirely, as the man did in the above exchange, is now the default for Generation Z on social media. Melissa Mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 July 2023 The Times began using the classic dateline style — uppercase letters followed by an em dash — as early as 1869. Mathew Brownstein, New York Times, 26 May 2023 An eight-character password comprising only uppercase and lowercase letters takes 22 minutes to crack. Kim Komando, USA TODAY, 25 May 2023
Noun
The image looks as if Sanchez is shouting over loud club music to tell her then-boyfriend something, which is why people who used the meme format typed in all uppercase letters. Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News, 23 Dec. 2022 There’s generally a simple formula for this one: two uppercase letters, followed by a four-digit number. Allison Hope, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Mar. 2022 Instead, use a long password with a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters as well as numbers and special characters, and always use unique passwords for each account. Al Ramich, Forbes, 1 July 2022 Experts at Boston University remind us that using a combination of alphabetical and numeric characters—with uppercase and lowercase mixed in with symbols—helps craft the complexity. Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 17 May 2022 Dave looked at the cover and recognized his father’s neat handwriting in all uppercase. Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2022 The Perfect Polish set also comes with six sheets of uppercase and lowercase lettered nail stickers in the same serif font as the brand's logo. Nicola Dall'asen, Allure, 19 Nov. 2021 The clothing company Gap about a decade ago redesigned its logo only to revert back to its classic blue box and uppercase letters in less than a week. Joshua Bowling, The Arizona Republic, 7 Nov. 2021 Like, the uppercase T had a spike serif on the bottom and slab serifs on the top. Diana Budds, Curbed, 13 Oct. 2021
Verb
Make sure your employees’ passwords follow best security practices, such as containing 10 characters or more, uppercase and lowercase letters and at least one number and special character. Akram Atallah, Forbes, 25 Mar. 2022
Noun
These are all upper case below. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 25 Apr. 2011 The script does have a string to upper case function, but that’s only for the output. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 14 Mar. 2011 This post is typed as a shouting tantrum (all upper case) and claims to be written by a man who called corporate headquarters in Charlotte where he was informed of this. Bill Hand, USA TODAY, 10 June 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'uppercase.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

from the compositor's practice of keeping capital letters in the upper of a pair of type cases

First Known Use

Adjective

1738, in the meaning defined above

Noun (1)

circa 1916, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1949, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1683, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of uppercase was in 1683

Dictionary Entries Near uppercase

Cite this Entry

“Uppercase.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uppercase. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

uppercase

adjective
up·​per·​case
ˌəp-ər-ˈkās
uppercase noun

More from Merriam-Webster on uppercase

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