Meanings
- idiomaticpluralplural onlyPeriods of positive and negative events, moods, or interactions; highs and lows.
Heidi and Mike had their ups and downs, but they stayed married for more than 60 years.
3 more examples
So it is the world wags: that honest men and knaves alike are always having ups and downs of fortune, and that we are perpetually changing tenants in Our Street.
1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Our Street, page 34But their friendship was not without its ups and downs, nor did they embark on many joint undertakings.
1960 March 28, Alan Rannie, “The Friendships of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 170Only a handful of rock musicians have become genuine icons - larger-than-life symbolic figures whose personal triumphs and vicissitudes seem to mirror the ups and downs of rock as a whole, and sometimes of the society that nurtures it. Often, rock icons become the objects of personality cults that tend to overshadow their musical accomplishments.
1981 May 31, Robert Palmer, “Two Icons of Rock Music”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 18 Apr 2023Synonyms: upsies and downsies, vicissitude
- pluralplural onlyUndulations.
[...] speed barely exceeded 30 m.p.h. until well beyond Kelty and from the front end the ups-and-downs of the track occasioned by pitfalls are very noticeable.
1960 August, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 463
Synonyms & antonyms
nounPeriods of positive and negative events, moods, or interactions; highs and lows.
Translations
Catalan alts i baixos
- alts i baixosidiomatic
Chinese Cantonese 甘苦
- 甘苦 (gam¹ fu²)idiomatic
Chinese Mandarin 起伏, 盛衰
- 起伏 (qǐfú)idiomatic
- 盛衰 (shèngshuāi)idiomatic
- 浮沈 (fúchén)idiomatic
- 浮沉 (fúchén)idiomatic
- 沈浮 (chénfú)idiomatic
- 沉浮 (chénfú)idiomatic
- 甘苦 (gānkǔ)idiomatic
Finnish ylä- ja alamäet, ylämäet ja alamäet
- ylä- ja alamäetidiomatic
- ylämäet ja alamäetidiomatic
French des hauts et des bas
- des hauts et des basidiomatic
German Höhen und Tiefen
- Höhen und Tiefenidiomatic
Italian alti e bassi
- alti e bassiidiomatic
Japanese 起伏, 浮き沈み
- 起伏 (kifuku)idiomatic
- 浮き沈み (ukishizumi)idiomatic
Latvian baltās un nebaltās dienas
- baltās un nebaltās dienasidiomatic
Persian پستی و بلندی, فراز و فرود
- پستی و بلندی (pasti-o-bolandi)idiomatic
- فراز و فرود (farâz-o-forud)idiomatic
- فراز و نشیب (farâz-o-našib)idiomatic
Polish wzloty i upadki
- wzloty i upadkiidiomatic
Portuguese altos e baixos
- altos e baixosidiomatic
Russian взлёты и паде́ния
- взлёты и паде́ния (vzljóty i padénija)idiomatic
Spanish altibajos, vicisitud
- altibajosidiomatic
- vicisitudidiomatic
Swedish upp- och nedgångar
- upp- och nedgångaridiomatic
Turkish acısı ve tatlısı, inişli çıkışlı
- acısı ve tatlısıidiomatic
- inişli çıkışlıidiomatic
Cite this entry
ups and downs. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ups%20and%20downs
“ups and downs.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ups%20and%20downs. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ups and downs,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ups%20and%20downs.
Source: ups and downs on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.