Meanings
nounupheaval (countable and uncountable, plural upheavals)
plural upheavals
- countablefigurativelyuncountableA disruptive change, from one state to another.
Scotland's bottleneck junction between the West and East Coast main lines at Carstairs will be the site of major upheaval until the end of May, while £164 million worth of improvements are carried out.
2023 March 8, “Network News: Carstairs shut for main line upgrade”, in RAIL, number 978, page 11Synonyms: seismic shift
- countablefigurativelyuncountableA sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion.
Since that upheaval Wales have won just once in seven games, beating Northern Ireland in the Nations Cup last May.
2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegr”, in BBCSynonyms: seismic shift
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA disruptive change, from one state to another.
Similar
nounA sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
nouna state of violent disturbance and disorder (as in politics or social conditions generally)
Similar
Broader
noun(geology) a rise of land to a higher elevation (as in the process of mountain building)
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishupheave
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
- Englishupheaval
Translations
Arabic اِضْطِرَاب
- اِضْطِرَاب (iḍṭirāb)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Bulgarian катаклизъм
- катаклизъм (kataklizăm)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Catalan trastorn, daltabaix
- trastornsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- daltabaixsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Chinese Mandarin 隆起, 動亂 /动乱
- 隆起 (lóngqǐ)process of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- 動亂 /动乱 (dòngluàn)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- 動盪 /动荡 (dòngdàng)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Czech pozdvižení, otřes
- pozdviženísudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- otřessudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- zvratsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- převratsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- rozvratsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Esperanto tumulto, konvulsio
- tumultosudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- konvulsiosudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Finnish maanpinnan kohoaminen, mullistus
- maanpinnan kohoaminenprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- mullistussudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- kumoussudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
French soulèvement, surrection
- soulèvementprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- surrectionprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- bouleversementsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
German Erhebung, Aufwölbung
- Erhebungprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- Aufwölbungprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- Umbruchsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- Aufruhrsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Greek χαμός, της τρελής
- χαμός (chamós)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- της τρελής (tis trelís)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Hindi विप्लव, क्रांति
- विप्लव (viplav)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- क्रांति (krānti)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Italian sollevamento
- sollevamentoprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
Māori tairangatanga, akaaka
- tairangatangaprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- akaakasudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Polish wstrząs, afera
- wstrząssudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- aferasudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Russian подъём, подня́тие
- подъём (podʺjóm)process of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- подня́тие (podnjátije)process of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- смеще́ние (smeščénije)process of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- сдвиг (sdvig)process of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- беспоря́дки (besporjádki)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- бунт (bunt)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- переворо́т (perevorót)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- возмуще́ние (vozmuščénije)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Spanish surgimiento, convulsión
- surgimientoprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- convulsiónsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Swedish omstörtning, omvälvning
- omstörtningsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- omvälvningsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- kaossudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Turkish kabarma, yükselme
- kabarmaprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- yükselmeprocess of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- ani değişikliksudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- inkılapsudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Ukrainian зміщення, зрушення
- зміщення (zmiščennja)process of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- зрушення (zrušennja)process of being heaved upward, especially of the earth's crust
- заворушення (zavorušennja)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- переворот (perevorot)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
- потрясі́ння (potrjasínnja)sudden violent upset, disruption or convulsion
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with upheaval
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
upheaval. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/upheaval
MLA
“upheaval.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/upheaval. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “upheaval,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/upheaval.
Source: upheaval on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.