How to Use upward in a Sentence

upward

1 of 2 adverb
  • The road gradually rose upward.
  • She directed my gaze upward.
  • They are moving upward socially and economically.
  • Don’t give up; this is just the start of a bull run—forward and upward!
    Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Dec. 2023
  • The torque starts low in the rev range and pours on smoothly and sweetly as the tach swings upward.
    Patrick Bedard, Car and Driver, 19 Aug. 2023
  • Then twist and gently lift the apple upward to release the stem from the branch.
    Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Aug. 2023
  • If the trend upward continues, 2023 could turn into one of the hottest years on record, the UN claims.
    Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 31 July 2023
  • The valves in the veins of your legs, which keep blood flowing upward to your heart, collapse a little.
    Amanda Gardner, Health, 28 Nov. 2023
  • But in the seven years since that stage pairing in San Diego, both of their careers have been on the fast track upward.
    Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Oct. 2023
  • The cost of health care has marched steadily upward even as life expectancy in the U.S. has declined.
    Byjohn Kell, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2024
  • Winds gust upward of 30 to 40 mph, west to east, as low pressure makes its closest pass.
    Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 16 Dec. 2023
  • Note that the 50-day moving average may be about to turn upward.
    John Navin, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023
  • The upper block moves upward relative to the lower block.
    Júlia Ledur, Washington Post, 11 Sep. 2023
  • For the past three years, crime rates in some U.S. cities appeared bleak: Rates of homicides and shootings, long on the decline, ticked upward.
    Sarah Bahari, Dallas News, 30 Mar. 2023
  • Grab the bar from the front by reaching, jumping, or lifting your body upward with your shoulder blades pulled down and back.
    Jacqueline Andriakos, Health, 13 Mar. 2024
  • The view counter began to tick upward as comments poured in from people cheering her on.
    Madison Malone Kircher, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023
  • In response, the lanky, twitchy Sparks leans back on his heels, squints upward and tastes the air, tucking his thumbs into the waist of his pants like a prospector.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2023
  • Here, an inky tile backsplash refracts sunlight, and a Pepto-pink shade on the walls and ceilings works to move the eye upward.
    Anna Fixsen, ELLE Decor, 7 Mar. 2023
  • Be sure to use clean tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible and pull upward with steady, even pressure.
    Alyssa Hui, Verywell Health, 16 July 2023
  • Socha told me he’s been noticing people whose toes don’t touch the ground, and instead are slanted upward.
    Laura Lancaster, Outdoor Life, 11 Apr. 2024
  • The tick upward to 0.8% doesn’t tell the whole story, because the index decreased in five of the previous seven months.
    Alicia Wallace, CNN, 11 Aug. 2023
  • Temperatures probably don’t move upward a lot during the day, with highs in the low to mid-50s or close to that.
    Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 4 Mar. 2023
  • Bird-of-paradise plants are known for living upward of 50 years with the proper care and in the right growing conditions.
    Kate McGregor, House Beautiful, 3 Sep. 2023
  • Rotate torso toward left side and bring left hand to hip, turning gaze upward, and hold.
    Madeline Howard, Women's Health, 23 Feb. 2023
  • Many playgrounds of the past were dangerous, with ladders climbing upward of 20 feet to rusty slides with no rails.
    Athena Aktipis, Scientific American, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Not only did the program trend upward as the season went on, but the team appears to be continuing to do so this fall.
    Lia Assimakopoulos, Dallas News, 11 Sep. 2023
  • Pre-school content has dipped from previous years, while Young Adult fare has notched upward.
    Ben Croll, Variety, 19 Sep. 2023
  • Transfer slices to muffin cups, ensuring the edges are cupped upward.
    Christopher Michel, Country Living, 27 Feb. 2023
  • Throughout history, humans have gazed upward and been cowed by the sheer vastness of the universe.
    Simon Henriques, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2023
  • Whitetail antlers, on the other hand, typically feature tines that grow straight upward from a pair of main beams.
    Scott Bestul, Field & Stream, 10 Apr. 2024
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upward

2 of 2 adjective
  • Note the recent upward spikes shown in the chart above for the 10-Yr.
    Robert Barone, Forbes, 11 Feb. 2023
  • During the test, the plane nosed up at the end of the runway thanks to upward shockwaves.
    Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 18 Jan. 2023
  • First, if the boat is floating, then the upward buoyancy must be equal to the weight of the boat.
    WIRED, 28 July 2023
  • That sparked an upward trend for Perine from that point on.
    Mohammad Ahmad, cleveland, 17 Dec. 2022
  • Hale said the takeaway from the meeting was that the upward adjustments from the Fed haven’t ended.
    Anna Bahney, CNN, 28 Sep. 2023
  • If the upward trend continues, maybe round three will have eight?
    Skyler Caruso, Peoplemag, 12 Dec. 2022
  • Manuel is on an upward trend in terms of her performance.
    Elizabeth Ayoola, Essence, 18 Jan. 2023
  • But by 2022, most of the world was back on the upward path, pushing life expectancy to a new global high.
    Marshall Ingwerson, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Dec. 2023
  • That would be more than enough to bring down the road and railway above, which were not built to withstand upward pressure.
    David Hambling, Popular Mechanics, 16 Aug. 2023
  • Flight prices have been on a steep upward trend since the Chiefs and the 49ers won their respective championships on Jan. 28.
    Brianna Taylor, Sacramento Bee, 3 Feb. 2024
  • On the whole, the path of prices across American history is an upward march.
    Jim Tankersley, New York Times, 7 Nov. 2023
  • On March 5, the price of the cryptocurrency swelled to a record high—and has continued its upward march.
    Joel Khalili, WIRED, 12 Mar. 2024
  • How can stocks be in an upward trend with so much anxiety?
    Russ Wiles, The Arizona Republic, 18 June 2023
  • Use your fingers to apply upward pressure along the cheekbones and at the inner edge, middle, and ends of the brows.
    Andi Breitowich, Women's Health, 24 Jan. 2023
  • Unlike a cat-eye, which is applied with a slight upward turn, Sasstrom dragged the liner straight out from the corner.
    India Espy-Jones, Essence, 9 Sep. 2023
  • The march grows in attendance and scope each year, Floyd said, and Monday continued the upward trend.
    Heather Bushman, The Indianapolis Star, 19 June 2023
  • The upper tusks can curl back into the animal’s face, while the lower tusks curl in upward motion and away from the babirusa’s head.
    Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 4 Jan. 2024
  • The graph of gold’s price that flashed on the screen was upward and basically vertical.
    Elliot Ackerman, WIRED, 12 Feb. 2024
  • The Fed’s rate hikes have done little to cool a red-hot US job market, which has put upward pressure on wages, and as a result, prices.
    Matt Ott, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Mar. 2023
  • Kelly raised his rifle high and fired at an upward angle until the group left.
    Sarah Lapidus, The Arizona Republic, 23 Mar. 2024
  • But other extreme weather events are not causing the same upward curve in deaths.
    Jake Frederico, The Arizona Republic, 31 Aug. 2023
  • And there’s the upward pushing force from the floor—but really, that just prevents the system from falling down below the level of the floor.
    Rhett Allain, WIRED, 17 Feb. 2023
  • However, the win continued an upward trend from the Blazers (20-22) in their last three games.
    oregonlive, 14 Jan. 2023
  • Perform quick, upward thrusts until the item is expelled.
    Stacey Colino, Parents, 20 Sep. 2023
  • Coming out of the 15-spot, Brown had an upward climb to the finals for a chance to become a back-to-back U.S. Nationals champion.
    Chloe Peterson, The Indianapolis Star, 5 Sep. 2023
  • Sunday’s final continued the upward trend in TV viewing for the 2022 World Cup.
    Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Dec. 2022
  • When to apply: Apply to a clean face and neck in the morning and/or evening using upward smoothing movements.
    Jasmine Gomez, Women's Health, 9 Sep. 2023
  • As a hurricane approaches the coast, water that has been piled up in the center flows outward toward the shore and is blocked by the upward slope of the ocean floor.
    Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA TODAY, 30 Aug. 2023
  • The most common cause of upward cupping of leaves is a reaction to drought, and this is true both of redbud trees and cucurbits.
    oregonlive, 16 July 2023
  • Instead of doors, the cabin is entered through an upward swinging windshield.
    Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'upward.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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