UPENDING Synonyms: 123 Similar and Opposite Words

upending

verb

present participle of upend

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

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

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 upending Saudi Ministry of Media | Reuters Deadly attacks on Saudi Arabia's second-busiest airport over the past week are highlighting how conflicts in the Middle East are upending air travel on a larger scale. — Leslie Josephs, CNBC, 13 Oct. 2026 Adrift Buendía Estudios Canarias, Boomerang TV, Atresmedia Five fishermen, who are presumed dead, return home two years later, upending the lives their wives had rebuilt without them. — Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026 This is important to me, because as much as these tech companies claim to be upending everything with AI and claiming extraordinarily special privileges as a result, there is still legal gravity constraining them. — James Folta, Literary Hub, 8 Oct. 2026 The United States joined Israel in attacking Iran’s military and nuclear program in two rounds, battering Iran and upending global markets far from the battlefield. — Melanie Lidman, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026 For the Brotherhood, Rabaa became the defining catastrophe of its post-2013 political memory, upending its organization, self-conception, and belief in its own permanence. — Abdelrahman Elgendy, Time, 6 Oct. 2026 And Sasha Tkachenko, head of studio at My Drama by Holywater Tech, predicted that the technology would also play an increasing role in microdramas and vertical content in general, without upending traditional skills completely. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 2 Oct. 2026 Trump repeatedly attacked Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, in harshly personal terms, upending decades of tradition in which presidents treated the Fed as independent. — ABC News, 15 Sep. 2026 The closure caused travel chaos across the world, upending travelers’ plans with thousands of flights affected. — Sana Noor Haq, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for upending

Verb

Fernandes points out the prevalence of tactical voting — when voters abandon their preferred candidate for one with a better chance of winning or defeating a rival — as an explanation for the first-round surprise in early October.

— Alessandra Freitas, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026
Eisenkot argued that Israel needed to concentrate its military resources on defeating Hamas in the south before embarking on another major conflict.

— Eric Cortellessa, Time, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of defeating

Verb

The figures highlight the structural reliance of US tech on China, and the difficulties of erecting a materials and software firewall against Beijing.

— Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 12 Oct. 2026
The authority will be erecting acoustic barriers and will send alerts for blasting and other disruptions.

— Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of erecting

Verb

And already this week, at least one county official is raising questions about why his locality is on the DOJ's list.

— Miles Parks, NPR, 22 Oct. 2026
Privacy concerns The very same design elements that make Muse so appealing to AI newcomers are also raising privacy concerns.

— Andrew R. Chow, Time, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of raising

Verb

Making a cup of coffee can be as simple as popping a pod into a machine or as complex as mastering a high-tech espresso machine.

— Randi Gollin, Martha Stewart, 21 Oct. 2026
Ward went on to join Ohio’s BalletMet and North Carolina Dance Theatre, mastering classical and neoclassical styles until his heart demanded a move beyond those orthodoxies.

— Guillermo Perez, Miami Herald, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of mastering

Verb

Her hours used to be filled with calls, note-taking and lengthy card disclosures.

— Lindsay Dodgson, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
Dallas Mavericks star Cooper Flagg exited Friday night's game against the Indiana Pacers with an apparent shoulder injury after taking a hard foul while attempting a layup.

— Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of taking

Verb

Meanwhile, Eisenkot’s bloc, which consists of right-wing, centrist and left-wing parties, would get 54 seats, beating Netanyahu while still falling short of a clear victory.

— Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2026
The Chicago Bears were 8-0 for the first time since 1942, after beating the Minnesota Vikings 27-9 at Soldier Field.

— Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of beating

Verb

That nonprofit group has been building resilience in lower-resource countries for over a decade, dispatching coaches and mentors to educate and train local healthcare students and practitioners as well as building financial and material resources.

— Diane Cole, NPR, 20 Oct. 2026
More important than the figures themselves is the engine’s broad, effortless power delivery, which makes the Carrera T feel eager whether carving through a mountain road or dispatching a stretch of freeway.

— Bradley Iger, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of dispatching

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upended

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“Upending.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/upending. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of upending

verb

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