uphill
/' p'hil/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective:
- Sloping upward: Describing a surface, path, or road that ascends or rises at an angle.
- Requiring great effort; difficult: Describing a task or struggle that is arduous and challenging.
Adverb:
- Upward on a hill or incline: In the direction of a higher point on a slope.
- Against difficulties: In a manner involving struggle or great effort.
Noun:
- The upward slope of a hill: An ascending stretch of ground; a rise.
Usage Examples
Adjective:
- The last five miles of the marathon were a steep, uphill climb.
- Rebuilding the company's reputation after the scandal was an uphill battle.
Adverb:
- We had to walk uphill for over an hour to reach the village.
- She felt she was talking uphill, as no one seemed to listen to her proposal.
Noun:
- The cyclists struggled on the long uphill before the descent.
Advanced Usage
- "An uphill struggle/battle/task": A common idiom using the adjective form to emphasize a very difficult endeavor.
- Getting the new law passed has been an uphill struggle against powerful opposition.
Variants and Related Words
- Uphill (adj., adv., n.): The word itself functions as three different parts of speech, as defined above.
- Ascent (n.): The act of climbing or moving upward; a path or route that goes up.
- Incline (n.): A slope, especially a gentle one.
Synonyms
- Adjective (sloping): Ascending, rising, climbing.
- Adjective (difficult): Arduous, strenuous, taxing, grueling.
- Adverb: Upwards, upward.
- Noun: Rise, ascent, incline, gradient.
Antonyms
- Adjective (sloping): Downhill, descending.
- Adjective (difficult): Easy, effortless.
- Adverb: Downhill, downwards.
- Noun: Descent, decline.
Related Phrases
- All uphill from here: An idiomatic expression, often used ironically, to suggest that a situation will become progressively more difficult. In a positive, literal sense, it can mean the hardest part (the climb) is over.
- If we can secure this client, it should be all uphill from here. (Often implies the easier, "downhill" part is ahead, though it uses "uphill" ironically.)
- We've reached the summit; it's all uphill from here! (Literal, positive use meaning the return journey is downhill).
Adverb
- upward on a hill or incline
- this street lay uphill
- against difficulties
- she was talking uphill
Noun
- the upward slope of a hill