up

The word “up” means toward or in a higher position; away from the ground. In plain terms, a tiny word with dozens of uses, but at its core it means higher, more, active, or working — the opposite of down.

“Up” is pronounced uhp (/ʌp/ in IPA).

Here is “up” used in a sentence: “She looked up at the tall building.”

The opposite of “up” — its antonyms — is down.

Depending on how it is used, “up” can be an adverb, a preposition, an adjective, a verb and a noun.

The word “up” comes from Old English. From Old English upp, up, from Proto-Germanic *upp — one of the oldest and most basic words in the language, related to "over" and "above.".

“Up” is a very common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Up” has 7 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: toward or in a higher position; away from the ground.

All three describe movement toward a higher position, but "up" is the everyday word ("prices went up"), while "upward" and "upwards" are slightly more formal and emphasise direction ("the path slopes upward"). "Upward" also works comfortably as an adjective, as in "an upward trend".

In many phrasal verbs, "up" signals completion or thoroughness rather than direction: "eat up" means eat completely, and "clean up" means clean thoroughly. This is why the meaning of a phrasal verb often cannot be worked out from "up" alone.

Yes, "up" works informally as a verb meaning to raise or increase, as in "The airline upped its prices." It is common in journalism and casual speech but rare in formal writing.

Followed directly by a noun, "up" means toward the top, source, or far end of it: "walk up the road," "climb up the ladder." "Up to" instead marks a limit — "up to ten people," "up to now" — so the two are not interchangeable.