upheaval

C1 Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /ʌpˈhi.vəl/ UK /ʌpˈhiː.vəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #28294

Meanings

1

noun
A big and often sudden change that causes trouble or confusion.

The country went through years of political upheaval.
2

noun
A sudden and violent disturbance or disruption.

Moving house caused a lot of upheaval for the whole family.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a big and often sudden... turmoil turbulence

2 noun · a sudden and violent... disruption

Word family

Forms upheavals

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

political upheaval
a major disruptive change in government or public power

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From upheave + -al.

*keh₂p- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

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