Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

on one's uppers

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.68 in modern English

Syllables: on one's up-pers
IPA

16

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

prep_phrase

destitute; poor.

Example Sentences

"“We are bound toward the scuppers, And the time has come to act, Or we’ll both be on our uppers For a fact!”"

Etymology

From uppers (“the top part of a leather shoe”), having worn through the sole.

Synonyms

down on one's uppers

Questions

What does on one's uppers mean?: destitute; poor.
Where does on one's uppers come from?: From uppers (“the top part of a leather shoe”), having worn through the sole.

How to pronounce on one's uppers

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “on one's uppers”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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