uphill
adverb
\
Definition of uphill
(Entry 1 of 3)
uphill
noun
\
Definition of uphill (Entry 2 of 3)
uphill
adjective
\
Definition of uphill (Entry 3 of 3)
Keep scrolling for more
Synonyms & Antonyms for uphill
Synonyms: Noun
acclivity, ascent, hill, rise, upgrade, uprise
Synonyms: Adjective
arduous, Augean, backbreaking, challenging, demanding, difficult, effortful, exacting, formidable, grueling (or gruelling), hard, heavy, hellacious, herculean, killer, laborious, moiling, murderous, pick-and-shovel, rigorous, rough, rugged, severe, stiff, strenuous, sweaty, tall, testing, toilsome, tough
Antonyms: Noun
declension, decline, declivity, descent, dip, downgrade, downhill, drop-off, fall, hang, hanging
Antonyms: Adjective
cheap, easy, effortless, facile, light, mindless, simple, soft, undemanding
Visit the Thesaurus for More
Examples of uphill in a Sentence
Adverb
It is easier to ride a bicycle downhill than uphill.Noun
no matter where you go bicycle touring, the uphills always seem to outnumber the downhillsAdjective
It has been an uphill battle for her to get an education. an uphill battle to eradicate poverty in an area of the state that has never known anything else
Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb
Lime says its bikes, in contrast, are upscale, with a battery to provide an electric assist for going uphill. — Mike Cherney, WSJ, "Lime Looks to Peddle Its Bicycles in Australia," 16 Jan. 2019 Chapman, upon exiting the helicopter, immediately charged uphill through the snow toward enemy positions while under heavy fire from three directions. — James Freeman, WSJ, "Post-Trump Slump?," 24 Aug. 2018 According to the Guinness World Record webpage, the pole sits at an altitude of 9,301 feet, and Davis’s entire journey to get there from the starting point at Hercules Inlet in Antarctica, where she’ll be dropped off via airplane, will be uphill. — Jenny Mccoy, SELF, "How an Extreme Endurance Athlete Trains to Trek 704 Miles From Antarctica to the South Pole," 11 Oct. 2018 Able to propel up to 65,000 pounds of metal and passengers uphill. — Mike Lindblom, The Seattle Times, "An uphill battle to get electric trolleybuses on Madison RapidRide route," 27 Aug. 2018 More than 60% of the stage is spent going uphill on three of the most brutal climbs the Tour de France has to offer. — Joshua Robinson, WSJ, "The Stage that Could Decide the Tour de France Is Also Its Shortest," 24 July 2018 As early as 1604, mine owners began laying wooden rails in tracks downhill from their pits to the nearest river, running on them wooden carts that could be pulled back uphill by a horse after unloading. — David R. Baker, San Francisco Chronicle, "‘Energy: A Human History,’ by Richard Rhodes," 7 June 2018 Shoulder-season picks for women and men. Outdoor Research Optimizer ($399) Best For: Redlining Most winter hard shells are oppressive in balmy conditions—or when hiking uphill regardless of the weather. — Kelly Bastone, Outside Online, "The Best Rain Jackets for Every Activity," 20 June 2018 Driving the ball uphill over a lake gives way to long fairway and green guarded by sand traps. — Grace Schneider, The Courier-Journal, "We love to hate these golf holes in Louisville. Here's our Nasty 9," 19 June 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Rear-wheel drive works best for for uphill mowing and sidehill mowing. — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, "The Lawn Mower Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Buy the Right Mower," 22 Feb. 2019 And in Annecy-Le-Vieux, a village uphill of the city center, Le Clos des Sens’s chef Laurent Petit shines with innovative two-Michelin star dishes in an intimate, relaxed setting. — Elizabeth Wellington, Vogue, "Exploring Annecy, the Venice of the French Alps," 7 Nov. 2018 In 2013, Gevers moved himself and his company to the nation’s smallest canton, about half an hour uphill from Zurich. — Gideon Lewis-kraus, WIRED, "The Blockchain: A Love Story—And a Horror Story," 18 June 2018 For a quarter century, the 1.86-kilometer road that runs uphill to the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex, England, has hosted the annual Festival of Speed. — Sean O'kane, The Verge, "Robot racecars storm the most glamorous hill in motorsports," 3 Aug. 2018 The Cougars will have head-to-head tiebreakers on Stanford and Oregon, which also faces an uphill climb having already lost three conference games. — Theo Lawson, The Seattle Times, "The Cougars are top-10 and in the driver’s seat for Pac-12 North. Does WSU have a shot at the playoff?," 29 Oct. 2018 Photo: Shaumbé Wright/The Wall Street Journal The new U.S. retail banking and cards team faces an uphill climb by some measures. — Telis Demos, WSJ, "Citigroup’s Profit Rises, Helped by Cost Cuts," 12 Oct. 2018 However, Barletta faces an uphill climb to defeat the Democrat, as two polls taken after his GOP primary victory show Casey with a double-digit lead. — Samuel Chamberlain, Fox News, "Trump defends Russia and North Korea meetings, attacks 'overrated' Bob Casey at Pennsylvania rally," 2 Oct. 2018 Hole 6, par 4: Par, +3 for the day Yet another good driver down the left side of the fairway, leaving a 169-yard, uphill and into-the-wind approach into this par 4. — Daniel Rapaport, SI.com, "Tiger Woods Shoots 78 in First Round of U.S. Open at Shinnecock," 14 June 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
There's also an uphill climb to reach the board's stated goal of one billion users, with all the cultural shifts such growth implies. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Book tells the inside story of how Reddit came to be the Internet’s “id”," 30 Dec. 2018 Cohn points out that Democrats faced huge structural barriers, including severe partisan gerrymandering and a heavily urban voter base, that makes winning the House an uphill climb. — Zack Beauchamp, Vox, "The strange argument that Democrats actually lost the midterms, debunked," 9 Nov. 2018 This week’s cosmic weather report is brought to you by the mistress of the uphill climb, the Waxing Moon in Capricorn. — Bess Matassa, Teen Vogue, "Weekly Horoscopes October 15-21," 13 Oct. 2018 Though Debbie might be more comfortable in a Vegas environment, the actress who plays her wants to continue to see her character face an uphill climb. — Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, "'GLOW' Bosses on "Uncomfortable" Finale and (Likely) Season 3," 4 July 2018 The company faces an uphill battle here too, given China’s rampant online piracy; less than 4% of its music-streaming users are paying subscribers. — Jacky Wong, WSJ, "Don’t Get Lulled by Tencent Music’s Tunes," 11 Dec. 2018 The prime minister is facing an uphill battle, since her agreement is deeply unpopular. — Jen Kirby, Vox, "UK Parliament just dealt a blow to Theresa May. What’s next for Brexit?," 6 Dec. 2018 The waterworks began early in the second mile—an uphill stretch that would’ve been hard enough without the creeping wetness. — Kristen Elde, SELF, "I Peed Myself During a 10K—and Still Finished the Race," 1 Dec. 2018 Even with a steady source of money for campaign funds, some candidates still face an impossibly uphill battle to win an election. — Sarah Emily Baum, Teen Vogue, "Why Do Candidates Run for Office When There’s Little Chance They Can Win?," 7 Nov. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'uphill.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for uphill
uphill
adverb
English Language Learners Definition of uphill
(Entry 1 of 2)
uphill
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of uphill (Entry 2 of 2)
See the full definition for uphill in the English Language Learners Dictionary
uphill
adverb
\
Kids Definition of uphill
(Entry 1 of 2)
uphill
adjective
\
Kids Definition of uphill (Entry 2 of 2)
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on uphill
What made you want to look up uphill? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Words from Greek and Latin Quiz
-
- Which of the following months comes from a Latin word for “ten”?
Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Share uphill
Resources for uphill