upsies and downsies

noun

Synonym of ups and downs.

Meanings

nounupsies and downsies pl (plural only)
  1. colloquialpluralplural onlyrareSynonym of ups and downs.

    He [Alexander Korda] also mentioned how much he missed the yacht and remarked that his career had been marked “by too many upsies and downsies.”

    1979, Michael Korda, “Part Two: Close-Up”, in Charmed Lives: A Family Romance, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 377
    5 more examples

    Now the program had started. Dee Delight was introducing her. “…such a great, great privilege to be allowed to introduce, in her great hour of well-deserved glory, this beloved old friend. I have seen her through lean years and fat, through sunshine and tears, through upsies and downsies – as Opal herself might say – and I want to say to all the world that no matter what was happening to her she has always been first and foremost a mother.[…]”

    1951, Whitfield Cook, Roman Comedy: An Impolite Extravaganza, New York, N.Y.: Coward-McCann, →OCLC, page 202

    My own first three years had been full of “upsies” and “downsies” but never had I found time to kill or time to pine. I kept in touch with the everyday world and busy with things that seemed to be waiting for me to do.

    1982, Esther Cathy, Under His Wings: A Philosophical Autobiography, Macon, Ga.: Mercer Press Services, →OCLC, page 185

    Do we not suspect, deep down, that when we say, “Lord, I believe,” that those three short words are but the preface to “Let the good times roll!”? Paul [the Apostle] obviously found confession not as a part of some despairing cycle, but a displacement of that ugly routine. Is there a steady confessional life that eliminates those spiritual “upsies and downsies”?

    1998, Calvin Miller, “The Confessional Walk of Faith”, in The Unchained Soul, Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers, →ISBN, page xix

    You confuse "investing" with gambling. Investing is when you build something that makes a service or product that people pay money for. Investing is not betting your retirement resources on your hunches about the upsies and downsies of businesses in countries you can never fully understand or trust.

    2008 April 23, [Dave] <snedekerd@msn.com>, “US stocks are scams”, in alt.accounting (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Apr 2026

    We have serious problems involving debt, revenue and expense and the Treasurer attempted to address them. First the Secretary deletes the remarks in her summary. Next she misrepresents them entirely in her draft minutes. Then the Vice President comes on with a bunch of hooey that it is all stock market upsies and downsies.

    1999 January 8, JimEade, “Unofficial Summary of December USCF Board Meeting”, in rec.games.chess.politics (Usenet), archived from the original on 15 Apr 2026

    Synonyms: ups and downs

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSynonym of ups and downs.

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

upsies and downsies. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/upsies%20and%20downsies

MLA

“upsies and downsies.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/upsies%20and%20downsies. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “upsies and downsies,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/upsies%20and%20downsies.

Source: upsies and downsies on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.