uphill 1 of 2

adjective

ˈəp-ˌhil How to pronounce uphill (audio)
Definition of uphillnext
as in difficult
requiring considerable physical or mental effort an uphill battle to eradicate poverty in an area of the state that has never known anything else

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

uphill

2 of 2

noun

ˈəp-ˌhil How to pronounce uphill (audio)
as in hill
an upward slope no matter where you go bicycle touring, the uphills always seem to outnumber the downhills

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of uphill
Adjective
Land facing uphill and one spine engages; land facing downhill and the other does the job without the need for a pilot to calculate the perfect approach angle. — New Atlas, 1 Sep. 2026 Producing has always been an uphill climb, and it has been made steeper as the business roils with cutbacks and contraction and the infiltration of AI. — Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 31 Aug. 2026
Noun
The moment that will likely endure from Klæbo’s perfect Olympics happened on a brutal uphill during the sprint. — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2026 When a bicyclist right behind me takes a spill on a slow uphill near UCSF Medical Center, my instinct is to dial 911. — Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for uphill
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uphill
  1. difficult
  2. hill
  3. challenging
  4. incline
  5. tough
  6. hard
  7. rigorous
  8. demanding
Adjective
  • Being undefeated after a trio of difficult opening matches can only be seen as a positive, even if Newcastle’s obvious shortcomings require addressing if that run is to be prolonged.
    — Chris Waugh, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Engineers need flight data on propulsion, aerodynamics, thermal management, guidance and other subsystems under conditions that are difficult to reproduce on the ground.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of difficult
Noun
  • The most momentous of these was reserved for Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, which saw Clemens take the hill with the Yanks down two games to none to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 11 Sep. 2026
  • While there are dozens of species, the chromic king of the hill is Scilla siberica from northern Russia.
    — Paul Cappeillo, Louisville Courier Journal, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of hill
Adjective
  • Eric Loucks, the director of the Mindfulness Center at Brown, pointed out that a person can have a challenging experience during meditation and still find their overall meditation practice to be beneficial.
    — Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2026
  • For something more hands-on, Atlanta Motorsports Park in Dawsonville has a challenging kart circuit where karts can reach 50 mph or more.
    — Chris Teague, AJC.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of challenging
Noun
  • The imposing gate and incline signal that privacy is one of the adults-only resort’s strongest assets, attracting high-profile guests like Katy Perry and Sir Paul McCartney.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The Pro version utilizes dual 250-W all-wheel-drive hubs to generate the torque to climb an impressive 15% hill incline.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of incline
Adjective
  • Competing in a Grand Tour is one of sport’s toughest endurance tests.
    — Chris Marshall-Bell, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Trump used several minutes of his speech to praise Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is in a tough Senate race in America's largest red state.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of tough
Adjective
  • Will his veteran line trust him to have the answers when things get hard?
    — Ted Nguyen, New York Times, 7 Sep. 2026
  • The death of country music, movie, theme park and, frankly, all-around icon Dolly Parton hit a lot of people hard.
    — Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of hard
Adjective
  • Popularists, such as the data scientist David Shor and the writer Matt Yglesias, have advocated using rigorous polling and analytics to develop a Democratic agenda that appeals to the median voter.
    — Jason Zengerle, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2026
  • That’s led to more rigorous testing and higher standards, including a set of rules by the American Petroleum Institute that took effect at the start of the decade.
    — Adam Ismail, The Drive, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of rigorous
Adjective
  • That night, somewhere between a racist stranger, a free dessert, my girlfriend publicly shaming a man in a Mediterranean restaurant and our demanding cat, the City of Angels started to feel like home.
    — Mayur Chauhan, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • And the longer or more demanding the workout, the more important such fuel becomes.
    — Daryl Austin, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of demanding

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Cite this Entry

“Uphill.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uphill. Accessed 15 Sep. 2026.

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