upset adj
1. afflicted with or marked by anxious uneasiness or trouble or grief; "too upset to say anything"; "spent many disquieted moments"; "distressed about her son's leaving home"; "lapsed into disturbed sleep"; "worried parents"; "a worried frown"; "one last worried check of the sleeping children" [syn: disquieted, distressed, disturbed, worried]
2. thrown into a state of disarray or confusion; "troops fleeing in broken ranks"; "a confused mass of papers on the desk"; "the small disordered room"; "with everything so upset" [syn: broken, confused, disordered]
3. used of an unexpected defeat of a team favored to win; "the Bills' upset victory over the Houston Oilers" [syn: upset(a)]
4. mildly physically distressed; "an upset stomach"
5. 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" [syn: overturned, upturned] n
6. an unhappy and worried mental state; "there was too much anger and disturbance"; "she didn't realize the upset she caused me" [syn: disturbance, perturbation]
7. the act of disturbing the mind or body; "his carelessness could have caused an ecological upset"; "she was unprepared for this sudden overthrow of their normal way of living" [syn: derangement, overthrow]
8. condition in which there is a disturbance of normal functioning; "the doctor prescribed some medicine for the disorder"; "everyone gets stomach upsets from time to time" [syn: disorder]
9. a tool used to thicken or spread (the end of a bar or a rivet etc.) by forging or hammering or swaging [syn: swage]
10. the act of upsetting something; "he was badly bruised by the upset of his sled at a high speed" [syn: overturn, turnover]

See more meaning on Upset...

An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win (the favorite), is defeated by an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the conventional wisdom. The underdog then becomes a giant-killer.

The meaning of the word has popularly been attributed to the surprising defeat of the horse Man o' War by the horse Upset (the loss was the only one in Man o' War's career, though Man o' War later defeated Upset), though the term pre-dates that 1919 race.

In 2002, George Thompson, a lexicographic researcher, used the full-text online search capabilities of the New York Times databases to trace the usage of the verb to upset and the noun upset. The latter was seen in usage as early as 1877. Thompson's research debunked one popular theory of the term's origin, namely that it was first used after the Thoroughbred racehorse Upset became the only horse to defeat the legendary Man o' War in 1919.

• Parents upset with search for missing baby Lisa - United Press International
  KANSAS CITY, Mo., May 21 (UPI) -- A Missouri couple whose infant daughter vanished 7 1/2 months ago expressed frustration Monday with the pace of the investigation. Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin of Kansas City, who appeared on the NBC "Today ... Read more on this news related to 'Upset'
• John Wolfe: Meet The Man Who Might Pull An Arkansas Primary Upset, But Probably Won't - Huffington Post
  If President Barack Obama is going to lose one of these Democratic primaries, it obviously won't be to some convict in West Virginia or to anti-abortion performance artist Randall Terry in Oklahoma. However, it could happen in Arkansas tonight ... Read more on this news related to 'Upset'
• Veterans upset at VA for backlog of disability claims - Abc Local Web
  SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Bay Area veterans are frustrated and angry because they are tired of dealing with a long backlog of disability claims with the Veterans Administration. Some veterans have waited years for their claims to be processed. They're ... Read more on this news related to 'Upset'