upside

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈʌpˌsaɪd/ UK /ˈʌpˌsaɪd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the positive or advantageous aspect of a situation

The upside of the delay was an extra day to prepare.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the positive or... advantage benefit plus merit positive gain

Opposites

downside drawback disadvantage negative

Word family

Related forms side up

Appears in

Proverbs (1)

See all

A smile is just a frown turned upside down

Etymology

A compound of up plus side, from Old English sīde ('flank, side'), from Proto-Germanic *sīdō; the 'advantageous aspect' sense is a 20th-century figurative extension.

up Middle English sīde Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# upside

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈʌpˌsaɪd/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈʌpˌsaɪd/

## Meanings
1. the positive or advantageous aspect of a situation

## Examples
- The upside of the delay was an extra day to prepare.

## Synonyms
- advantage
- benefit
- plus
- merit
- positive
- gain

## Antonyms
- downside
- drawback
- disadvantage
- negative

## Related Forms
- side
- up

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: up
- Root: sīde

## Etymology
A compound of up plus side, from Old English sīde ('flank, side'), from Proto-Germanic *sīdō; the 'advantageous aspect' sense is a 20th-century figurative extension.

## AI Etymology
Upside is a compound of up plus side, from Old English sīde ('flank, side'), from Proto-Germanic *sīdō; the 'advantageous aspect' sense is a 20th-century figurative extension. In current use it is a noun meaning "the positive or advantageous aspect of a situation". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Old English up and Old English sīde. Related English forms include side and up. The semantic development is therefore important as well as the form: the word moves from the older concrete, technical, or literal setting into the present figurative or specialized sense.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

markdown