Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Turned upward at the end or tip: Describing something, especially a nose, that curves or points upward.
   • Turned or flipped over so that the part that is usually the bottom or base is now on top: Describing an object that has been inverted or overturned.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • She has a cute, upturned nose. (Describing a nose shape.)
  • The upturned boat lay on the shore after the storm. (Describing an overturned object.)
  • He sat on an upturned crate to watch the parade. (Describing an object used with its bottom facing up.)

Advanced Usage

• "upturned face": A face tilted upward, often showing expectation, hope, or to look at something above.
  • The children listened with upturned faces to the storyteller.
• "upturned soil": Soil that has been dug or plowed, bringing the lower layers to the surface.
  • The field was freshly plowed, revealing rich, upturned earth.

Variants and Related Words

• Overturned (adj): Having been turned over; capsized. (Often used interchangeably with the second meaning of 'upturned' for objects.)
• Retrousse (adj): (Used especially of a nose) Turned up at the end. (A more formal or specialized synonym.)

Synonyms

• Turned-up: Curved or directed upward.
• Upside-down: With the upper part where the lower part should be; inverted. (Close synonym for the second meaning.)
• Inverted: Changed to the opposite position or direction.

Antonyms

• Downturned: Turned downward at the end.
• Aquiline: (Of a nose) Curved like an eagle's beak; hooked.

Related Phrases

• To turn up: (Phrasal verb) To increase in intensity, to appear, or to shorten a garment by folding it at the bottom. (Shares the core idea of an upward direction.)
  • Can you turn up the volume? (This is a different, idiomatic use of the phrasal verb.)

Adjective

1. (used of noses) turned up at the end
   • a retrousse nose
   • a small upturned nose
2. having been turned so that the bottom is no longer the bottom
   • an overturned car
   • the upset pitcher of milk
   • sat on an upturned bucket