: relating to, being, or appealing to affluent consumers
also
: of a superior quality
upscaled; upscaling; upscales
1
: to make (something) more appealing to affluent consumers : to make (something) more upscale
The council is renaming them the Fashion Awards, globalizing them, moving the hoopla around them to the Royal Albert Hall and otherwise upscaling them.—
Vanessa Friedman
Vanessa Friedman"Everybody's trying to upscale men's colognes because the prestige brands have taken share from the mass brands," says cosmetics industry consultant Allan Mottus.—Ronald Alsop
Ronald Alsop
also
: to improve the quality of (something)
… even retained a handwriting teacher to upscale her penmanship—no more tiny circles over her i's. —Brad Darrach
Brad Darrach 2
: to increase the size; scope, or scale of (something)
A star is an upscaled nuclear reactor, not a bonfire.—Laurence A. Marschall
Laurence A. MarschallAs a result, an upscaling of the problem of underrepresentation to the national scale mobilizes scalar politics …—Emily Skop
Emily Skop
: to or toward the upper, more expensive end of a range of products or services
He tried to move upscale—toward higher-cost, higher-profit garments, which, in theory, would be less susceptible to price competition.—James Lardner
James Lardner… chef Celestino Drago has taken Sicilian cuisine upscale in his chic Santa Monica restaurant.—Thomas Matthews
Thomas MatthewsExamples of upscale in a Sentence
Adjective
a new upscale shopping center is under construction on the west end of town
Recent Examples on the Web
John Liu, CNN Money, 5 Nov. 2025
Similarly, the rooftop at Hotel Cabo Branco Atlântico has a stylish pool and an upscale restaurant blocks from the ocean.
—Aaron Randolph, Travel + Leisure, 5 Nov. 2025
Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2025
Creators who want no part of Google’s AI upscaling should make sure to check the Advanced Settings to opt out before all their videos are processed and become the default version for TVs.
—ArsTechnica, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for upscale
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Adjective
For Starbucks patrons at an upscale mall in Beijing’s central business district – the same complex where the company first opened its doors in China in 1999 – the news doesn’t come as a complete surprise.
—John Liu, CNN Money, 5 Nov. 2025
Similarly, the rooftop at Hotel Cabo Branco Atlântico has a stylish pool and an upscale restaurant blocks from the ocean.
—Aaron Randolph, Travel + Leisure, 5 Nov. 2025
Verb
By blending creator control with AI upscaling, YouTube appears to be walking a careful line between innovation and user trust.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 29 Oct. 2025
Creators who want no part of Google’s AI upscaling should make sure to check the Advanced Settings to opt out before all their videos are processed and become the default version for TVs.
—ArsTechnica, 29 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for upscale
Cite this Entry
“Upscale.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upscale. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
upscale
adjective
up·scale
ˈəp-ˈskāl 
: relating to, being, or appealing to wealthy consumers
upscale shops
: of a superior quality
upscale products
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