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View synonyms for ups and downs

ups and downs

plural noun

  1. rises and falls of fortune; good and bad times:

    Every business has its ups and downs.



ups and downs

plural noun

  1. alternating periods of good and bad fortune, high and low spirits, etc
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of ups and downs1

First recorded in 1650–60
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Idioms and Phrases

Good times and bad times, successes and failures, as in We've had our ups and downs but things are going fairly well now . This term was first recorded in 1659.
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Example Sentences

He has had many ups-and-downs, but his motto has been, "Try and continue trying and you will succeed at last."

He has shared the ups-and-downs of frontier struggles, always a faithful supporter of the Methodist church.

All arbitrary goings to-and-fro, all idle fancies, all accidental ups-and-downs of emotion must be forbidden in the same way.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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