Etymograph

English

upset

Upset comes from Middle English upset ‘the act of setting up’, and goes back to upsetten.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500upsetten1
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500upset1‘the act of setting up’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1880upset1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English upset
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1880, The Locomotive, Hartford: “[T]he locomotive exploded and upset, and was completely wrecked.”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500upsettenWiktionary, English upset
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500upsetWiktionary, English upset‘the act of setting up’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1880upsetWiktionary, English upset. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1880, The Locomotive, Hartford: “[T]he locomotive exploded and upset, and was completely wrecked.”

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Today it means

adj Angry, distressed, or unhappy

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “upset”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle English upsetten / upset