How to Use upheaval in a Sentence

upheaval

noun
  • The island was created by an upheaval of the ocean floor.
  • The lake was formed by geologic upheaval.
  • The civil rights movement marked a period of social upheaval in the U.S.
  • Some were still trying to find their way through tragedy or upheaval.
    — Brittany Shammas, Washington Post, 1 Jan. 2026
  • Her life was a mess, a loop of false starts, deferred plans and upheaval.
    — Lizzie Presser, ProPublica, 29 Nov. 2022
  • There would be no massive upheaval.
    — Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 17 May 2026
  • Plus, the work can often be a huge upheaval in and of itself.
    — Tribune News Service, al, 7 June 2022
  • For many, this period of upheaval came with both pros and cons.
    — Sally Percy, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2023
  • And so all of these places of upheaval were sending people out, away.
    — Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Feb. 2024
  • There could be more departures on the way, adding to the upheaval.
    — Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2026
  • This year brought the greatest one-year upheaval in the modern era.
    — Steve Bousquet, Sun Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2026
  • If the trade war persists, the next upheaval will hit much closer to home.
    — Bloomberg News, Boston Herald, 29 Apr. 2025
  • The show has also seen a bit of of behind-the-scenes upheaval as of late.
    — Andy Swift, TVLine, 1 Nov. 2024
  • The network has seen a staffing upheaval in recent months.
    — Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
  • This year saw upheaval in all corners of health, science, and biotech.
    — Stat Staff, STAT, 29 Dec. 2025
  • These people hoped that a market upheaval might spur change.
    — Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 11 Mar. 2026
  • There has been a lot of industry upheaval.
    — Stewart Clarke, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Then there's the matter of the budget upheaval.
    — Fatma Tanis, NPR, 29 Oct. 2025
  • The shift comes at a time of upheaval for the luxury e-commerce space.
    — Noor Lobad, WWD, 9 Sep. 2024
  • There was a huge amount of upheaval within the playing squad and coaching staff.
    — Jay Harris, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2026
  • In both cases, the regime used brutal means to survive the upheaval.
    — Matthew Continetti, National Review, 24 Sep. 2022
  • If so, would such a network have been able to survive the upheaval of these final weeks?
    — CBS News, 6 Oct. 2021
  • Polyploidy may help species survive such upheavals.
    — Ari Daniel, NPR, 19 May 2026
  • Call it upheaval, call it disruption, call it a quandary, or call it a crisis.
    — Ann Kirschner, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2021
  • Since use of the boxes was made public, the school district has faced months of upheaval.
    — Brian Mann, NPR, 14 May 2026
  • The sudden upheaval in Cadillac-think stems from two sources.
    — Rich Ceppos, Car and Driver, 10 Feb. 2023
  • Keep in mind that often the best time to figure out a second act is when your life is in upheaval.
    — Terry Powell, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2021
  • Don’t see the upheaval as an obstacle (or something to fear).
    — Sharon Daniels, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026
  • Miniature upheavals by the courthouse steps.
    — Literary Hub, 17 June 2026
  • The last thing the country needs is its third major economic upheaval in a decade and a half.
    — Kevin Warsh, WSJ, 12 Dec. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'upheaval.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: