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upstairs

adjective · adverb · noun

Simple meaning

Located on a higher floor or level of a building.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

uhpstehrz

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

əpsˈtɛɹz

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

adjective

  1. Located on a higher floor or level of a building.

adverb

  1. Up the stairs; on or to a higher floor or level.

  2. informal

    With respect to the mind

  3. informal

    In the brain or mind.

  4. informal

    In heaven, especially with regard to where a deity might be found.

noun

  1. An upper storey.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Located on a higher floor or level of a building.

Used this way, upstairs 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
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use upstairs

  • “No one was allowed to see the upstairs.”noun
  • “They lived upstairs.”adverb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

back upstairsupstairs roomupstairs windowupstairs bedroomupstairs hall

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • kick upstairsverbCompound term

    Give a promotion to or assign to a higher position.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Antonyms

Sense: located on a higher floor

downstairs

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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.