upheaval
noun
Simple meaning
Disruptive change, from one state to another.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
uhpheevuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
əpˈhivəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Disruptive change, from one state to another.
A sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion.
The process of being heaved upward, especially the raising of part of the earth's crust.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Disruptive change, from one state to another.
Used this way, upheaval is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
The act of agitating, or the state of being agitated.
A state of great disorder or uncertainty.
The state of being excited (emotionally aroused).
Specifically, a state of agitation or disturbance in the air which is disruptive to an aircraft.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- reformationnoun
- coupnoun
- revolutionnoun
- revoltnoun
- uprisingnoun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.