sunlit uplands
/ˌsʌnlɪt ˈʌpləndz/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.27 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "We find in the nation as a whole, the people chosen of God to preserve his name and worship throughout many generations, moving on the sunlit uplands, while the world sat in shadow beneath."
- "A man, to see far, must climb to some height, and I was too much upon the plain in those days to catch even a glimpse of distant sunlit uplands of triumphant achievement that lie beyond the valley of self-sacrifice."
- "[Adolf] Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him all Europe may be free, and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands; but if we fail then the whole world, including the United States, and all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more prolonged, by the lights of a perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that if the British Commonwealth and Empire lasts for a thousand years men will still say, "This was their finest hour.""
- "Whatever the misgivings might be, the future that these projects paint is bright. That just leaves the challenge of bridging the gap between today's rather gloomy situation and tomorrow's sunlit uplands."
Etymology
From sunlit (“illuminated by sunlight”) + uplands (“areas in the interior of a country with a generally higher elevation”) (evoking a pleasant, happy place), popularized by its use in the “This was their finest hour” speech delivered by Winston Churchill (1874–1965), the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to the House of Commons on 18 June 1940: see the quotation.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌsʌnlɪt ˈʌpləndz/
- British English: /ˌsʌnlɪt ˈʌpləndz/
Usage
- British usage