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say it: uhp-SET
upset is a noun, verb and adjective meaning "an unhappy and worried mental state". It carries 17 recorded senses.
an unhappy and worried mental state
“there was too much anger and disturbance”
“she didn't realize the upset she caused me”
the act of disturbing the mind or body
“his carelessness could have caused an ecological upset”
“she was unprepared for this sudden overthrow of their normal way of living”
a physical condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning
“the doctor prescribed some medicine for the disorder”
“everyone gets stomach upsets from time to time”
disturb the balance or stability of
“The hostile talks upset the peaceful relations between the two countries”
afflicted with or marked by anxious uneasiness or trouble or grief
“too upset to say anything”
“spent many disquieted moments”
“distressed about her son's leaving home”
“lapsed into disturbed sleep”
“worried parents”
“a worried frown”
“one last worried check of the sleeping children”
thrown into a state of disarray or confusion
“troops fleeing in broken ranks”
“a confused mass of papers on the desk”
“the small disordered room”
“with everything so upset”
used of an unexpected defeat of a team favored to win
“the Bills' upset victory over the Houston Oilers”
having been turned so that the bottom is no longer the bottom
“an overturned car”
“the upset pitcher of milk”
“sat on an upturned bucket”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for upset come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.