1
as in defeating
to achieve a victory over
the team won the division play-offs, but was upended in the final championship game
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in erecting
to fix in an upright position
we had to upend the sofa in order to fit it into the elevator
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of upending
Russia suspended jet fuel exports, further upending trade in a product already hugely affected by the Iran war.
—
Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 2 June 2026
Both movies were directed by YouTube stars and cost nearly nothing to produce, upending conventional wisdom about the necessary components for a hit.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 31 May 2026
This show works to understand how those two minds—both devoted to upending the art market by making work that’s not easily categorizable—entertain certain themes simultaneously.
—Zoë Hopkins, New Yorker, 29 May 2026
An early morning Penn Station fire injured multiple people and snarled morning service between Newark and New York, upending commuter travel.
—Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 29 May 2026
Scenes in the rounded Tomorrowland theater will be updated, upending folky stories set in the early 1900s, the 1920s and the 1940s.
—Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 May 2026
Meanwhile, Airbnb, another early breakout hit from Y Combinator, has a market cap of close to $80 billion, and CEO Brian Chesky is credited with upending the hospitality industry.
—Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 26 May 2026
An experimental pill has shown unprecedented success in treating pancreatic cancer, upending conventional wisdom about the disease.
—Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washington Post, 24 May 2026
The mathematics of flat space is astonishingly versatile, and new research is upending the traditional thinking about the layout of our cosmos.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 23 May 2026
Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 2 June 2026
Both movies were directed by YouTube stars and cost nearly nothing to produce, upending conventional wisdom about the necessary components for a hit.
—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 31 May 2026
This show works to understand how those two minds—both devoted to upending the art market by making work that’s not easily categorizable—entertain certain themes simultaneously.
—Zoë Hopkins, New Yorker, 29 May 2026
An early morning Penn Station fire injured multiple people and snarled morning service between Newark and New York, upending commuter travel.
—Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 29 May 2026
Scenes in the rounded Tomorrowland theater will be updated, upending folky stories set in the early 1900s, the 1920s and the 1940s.
—Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 May 2026
Meanwhile, Airbnb, another early breakout hit from Y Combinator, has a market cap of close to $80 billion, and CEO Brian Chesky is credited with upending the hospitality industry.
—Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 26 May 2026
An experimental pill has shown unprecedented success in treating pancreatic cancer, upending conventional wisdom about the disease.
—Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washington Post, 24 May 2026
The mathematics of flat space is astonishingly versatile, and new research is upending the traditional thinking about the layout of our cosmos.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 23 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for upending
Verb
-
After defeating the Netherlands, Team Algeria returned home for a short break.—
Gary Bedore,
Kansas City Star,
8 June 2026
-
After defeating Chwalinska in straight sets, Andreeva took time at the end of her acceptance speech to speak Russian, seemingly in defiance of the vilification due to her ethnic heritage by the tennis governing bodies and opposing players.—
Jon Root OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
7 June 2026
Verb
-
Workers spent Friday evening erecting scaffolding in front of the building as crowds gathered below to watch.—
Philip Wang,
Time,
13 June 2026
-
After midnight on June 13, workers were still erecting a scaffold needed to remove the lettering.—
Gabe Hauari,
USA Today,
12 June 2026
Verb
-
The barriers our students face have changed over the years, but our commitment to overcoming them remains the same as always.—
Albert D. Mosley,
The Orlando Sentinel,
12 June 2026
-
Rather than scaling software, their approach focuses on overcoming physical bottlenecks—verified by the laws of physics—to build the foundational architecture for the broader space economy.—
Alexandra Vidyuk,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
Verb
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So, climbing one rung higher and losing to a different team will lead to raising the Cup?—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
11 June 2026
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Elon Musk's mega-conglomerate SpaceX made history on Thursday, raising $75 billion in the biggest initial public offering on record.—
John Ruwitch,
NPR,
11 June 2026
Verb
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One of them is to raise the proportion of students mastering Math I – usually taken the freshman year of high school but also taken by some middle schoolers and older high school students.—
Rebecca Noel,
Charlotte Observer,
10 June 2026
-
Just under 300,000 years from the moment Homo sapiens appeared in Africa, the species had encircled Earth, mastering desolate deserts and frozen wastelands and all the temperate climes in between.—
Cody Cottier,
Scientific American,
4 June 2026
Verb
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The Portugal Football Summit — organised by the Portuguese Football Federation and taking place 23–25 September in Oeiras — brings together the game’s leading voices on football business, leadership and the future of the sport.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
10 June 2026
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The Aftermath is a special bonus episode taking place after the reunion and will air next week.—
Alejandra Gularte,
Vulture,
10 June 2026
Verb
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As shoppers gear up for their European summer sojourns, brands are beating the tourist rush and setting up shop across the continent with temporary seasonal stores, beach club pop-ups and limited-time activations to capture the attention and dollars of the high-spending set.—
Madeleine Schulz,
Vogue,
8 June 2026
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Fujimori, daughter of a disgraced former president, and Sánchez, an ally of an imprisoned ex-president, were on the runoff’s ballot after beating 33 other candidates in the vote in April, but neither earned even 20% of support.—
Franklin Briceño,
Los Angeles Times,
8 June 2026
Verb
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Firefighters mounted an aggressive attack when the blaze first sparked, with officials dispatching 19 fire engines from Oceanside and neighboring fire agencies, and Cal Fire sending two air tankers out of Hemet.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 June 2026
-
Kim has sought to forge closer military and trade ties with Moscow, dispatching troops to fight in the Ukraine war while continuing to build up his nuclear capabilities in defiance of UN sanctions.—
Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
8 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Upending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/upending. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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