(~)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If you are ~, you are unhappy or disappointed because something unpleasant has happened to you.
After she died I felt very, very ~...
Marta looked ~...
She sounded ~ when I said you couldn’t give her an appointment...
They are terribly ~ by the break-up of their parents’ marriage.
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, oft ADJ by/about n
•
Upset is also a noun.
...stress and other emotional ~s.
N-COUNT
2.
If something ~s you, it makes you feel worried or unhappy.
She warned me not to say anything to ~ him...
Don’t ~ yourself, Ida.
VERB: V n, V pron-refl
~ting
Childhood illness can be ~ting for children and parents alike...
I will never see him again and that is a terribly ~ting thought.
= distressing
ADJ: usu v-link ADJ
3.
If events ~ something such as a procedure or a state of affairs, they cause it to go wrong.
...a deal that would ~ the balance of power in the world’s gold markets...
VERB: V n
•
Upset is also a noun.
Markets are very sensitive to any ~s in the Japanese economic machine.
N-COUNT
4.
If you ~ an object, you accidentally knock or push it over so that it scatters over a large area.
Don’t ~ the piles of sheets under the box.
VERB: V n
5.
A stomach ~ is a slight illness in your stomach caused by an infection or by something that you have eaten.
Paul was unwell last night with a stomach ~...
N-COUNT: supp N
•
Upset is also an adjective.
Larry is suffering from an ~ stomach.
ADJ: ADJ n
6.
to ~ the applecart: see applecart