topsy-turvy

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   confused, disordered, or arranged with normal relationships and priorities reversed

   The topsy-turvy tax system rewarded speculation while penalizing productive work.

2. 2
   adv

   into or in a state of disorder or inversion; upside down

   The coup turned the country's political institutions topsy-turvy.

A sixteenth-century rhyming formation whose exact development is uncertain. Topsy is connected with top or tops, while turvy is probably related to the obsolete verb terve or turve, 'to overturn.' Earlier forms such as topside-turvy helped produce the modern sense 'upside down or in confusion.'

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