Synonyms of upending

upending

verb

present participle of upend

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

• defeating
• overcoming
• mastering
• taking
• beating
• dispatching
• conquering
• getting
• stopping
• subduing
• surmounting
• succeeding
• besting
• licking
• trimming
• overmatching
• prevailing (over)
• winning (against)
• triumphing (over)
• overbearing
• worsting
• sweeping
• burying
• getting the better of
• getting around
• crushing
• doing down
• finishing
• upsetting
• slaughtering
• surpassing
• skunking
• annihilating
• flattening
• exceeding
• clobbering
• scoring
• overwhelming
• capping
• whipping
• overthrowing
• breaking
• trouncing
• topping
• knocking for a loop
• routing
• subjugating
• transcending
• thrashing
• excelling
• vanquishing
• bombing
• flourishing
• unseating
• walloping
• creaming
• blowing out
• eclipsing
• edging (out)
• drubbing
• outdoing
• shellacking
• outstripping
• blowing away
• skinning
• nosing out
• outshining
• overpowering
• bettering
• outdistancing
• pipping
• smoking
• waxing
• knocking over
• outfighting
• overtopping
• knocking off
• snowing under
• acing (out)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• losing (to)
• falling
• going down
• failing
• giving up
• collapsing
• folding
• going under
• flopping
• washing out
• flunking

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

• erecting
• raising
• lifting
• rearing
• hoisting
• pitching
• elevating
• setting up
• bracing
• upholding
• supporting
• putting up
• upraising
• buttressing
• upping
• heightening
• uplifting
• craning
• propping (up)
• hiking
• boosting
• shoring (up)
• heaving
• hefting
• jacking (up)
• picking up
• perking (up)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• flattening
• leveling
• demolishing
• tearing down
• razing
• knocking down

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of upending

The adviser told me that, even without drastically expanding the budget or upending the financial markets, Burnham could borrow a bit more to finance public-infrastructure investments and channel money to depressed regions. — John Cassidy, New Yorker, 20 July 2026

For more than two decades, the duo hauled in more than 4 pounds of clams each morning from the lagoon in the Po River Delta — upending the notion that women were unsuited for such a rigorous job. — Kasha Patel, CNN Money, 18 July 2026

Budget carriers have been under pressure to go upmarket as larger rivals post revenue growth from the front of the cabin, upending discounters’ once-profitable model of no-frills seating and amenities. — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 14 July 2026

On June 30, 13 Republicans followed through on those threats, sinking the procedural measure put on the floor by leadership and upending plans to pass several must-pass pieces of legislation ahead of the House’s July 4 recess. — Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 14 July 2026

After a decade of cutting deals, upending relations and generally maneuvering himself to the center of the world stage, here are some of the ways Trump has talked about — and to — his international peers. — Rafi Schwartz, TheWeek, 14 July 2026

Moreover, Iran alienated several of its neighbors in the Gulf by launching retaliatory attacks against them and upending regional trade through the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 3 July 2026

Investors’ fears of Anthropic’s Mythos model, which was launched in April, upending all cybersecurity software businesses, have since subsided. — Kirk Ogunrinde, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026

Forces — some visible, some harder to see — are upending literature and education itself. — Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026