Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to uphold
Participle: upheld
Gerund: upholding
Indicative
Present
| I | uphold |
| you | uphold |
| he;she;it | upholds |
| we | uphold |
| you | uphold |
| they | uphold |
Perfect
| I | have upheld |
| you | have upheld |
| he;she;it | has upheld |
| we | have upheld |
| you | have upheld |
| they | have upheld |
Past
| I | upheld |
| you | upheld |
| he;she;it | upheld |
| we | upheld |
| you | upheld |
| they | upheld |
Pluperfect
| I | had upheld |
| you | had upheld |
| he;she;it | had upheld |
| we | had upheld |
| you | had upheld |
| they | had upheld |
Future
| I | will uphold |
| you | will uphold |
| he;she;it | will uphold |
| we | will uphold |
| you | will uphold |
| they | will uphold |
Future Perfect
| I | will have upheld |
| you | will have upheld |
| he;she;it | will have upheld |
| we | will have upheld |
| you | will have upheld |
| they | will have upheld |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | uphold |
| you | uphold |
| he;she;it | uphold |
| we | uphold |
| you | uphold |
| they | uphold |
Perfect
| I | have upheld |
| you | have upheld |
| he;she;it | have upheld |
| we | have upheld |
| you | have upheld |
| they | have upheld |
Imperfect
| I | upheld |
| you | upheld |
| he;she;it | upheld |
| we | upheld |
| you | upheld |
| they | upheld |
Pluperfect
| I | had upheld |
| you | had upheld |
| he;she;it | had upheld |
| we | had upheld |
| you | had upheld |
| they | had upheld |
Conditional
Present
| I | would uphold |
| you | would uphold |
| he;she;it | would uphold |
| we | would uphold |
| you | would uphold |
| they | would uphold |
Perfect
| I | would have upheld |
| you | would have upheld |
| he;she;it | would have upheld |
| we | would have upheld |
| you | would have upheld |
| they | would have upheld |
Imperative
| you | uphold |
| we | Let's uphold |
| you | uphold |
Verbs conjugated like 'uphold'
behold,
hold,
uphold,
withhold,
breathhold,
hand-hold,
handhold,
overwithhold,
stranglehold,
underwithhold,
Verbs similar to 'uphold'
unhold,
upfold,
behold,
hold,
inhold,
unbold,
unfold,
unhood,
unmold,
uphand,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- maintain
- advocate, support, sustain, endorse, vindicate, bolster, help, prop
- elevate
- hoist, raise, upraise
Antonyms
- to upset or make a mess of something; to put into disarray; to adversely alter
- aid, bolster, cultivate, foster, hold up, nurture, prop up, support, sustain, spoil
- To support by approval or encouragement.
- acquiesce
- to withdraw or repudiate a statement or opinion formerly expressed
- affirm, aver, double down, maintain, stand firm, stand one's ground, recant
- maintain
- discontinue, quit, forsake, leave
- elevate
- lower, depress, decrease, debase
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
From Middle English upholden, equivalent to up- + hold. Compare Dutch ophouden (“to stop, cease, hold up”), German aufhalten (“to stop, halt, detain”). Compare also Middle Low German upholt, Old Norse upphald (“uphold, support”). See: Middle English '
upholden', Dutch '
ophouden', German, old spelling '
aufhalten'.
Verbs referencing "uphold"
Luxembourgish
ophalen, German, old spelling
aufhalten.
Sample Sentences
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The mournful train/ Echoed her grief, [...]/ With groans, and hands upheld, to move his mind, /Besought his pity to their helpless kind [1899, John Dryden, Geoffrey Chaucer, Percival Chubb, Dryden's Palamon and Arcite, page 5:]
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A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. [1769, The King James Bible, Proverbs 29:23:]
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That misbegotten devil, Falconbridge, /In spite of spite, alone upholds the day. [1623, William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John, Act V, Scene iv:]
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Uttering such broken ejaculations Mrs. Hart burst into a passion of tears, and only Lord Chetwynde's strong arms prevented her from falling. / He upheld her. [1872, James De Mille, The Cryptogram, HTML edition, The Gutenberg Project, published 2009:]
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Wednesday June 02, 2021, Has the Northern Ireland Protocol undermined the United Kingdom?
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Similarly, both the Government and the EU argued at the time the deal was agreed that they were upholding the Good Friday Agreement by implementing the Protocol.
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In early May [of 2025], Mr. Trump said, “I don’t know” when asked by NBC News if he had to uphold the Constitution. [2025 May 9, Cameron Joseph, “They’ve watched democracies fail. They see it happening under Trump.”, in The Christian Science Monitor:]
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let any moral come along and she would uphold it [1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:]
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but there was still a connexion upheld among the different ideas, which succeeded each other. [1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral., London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, § 18:]
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We must continually separate out and clearly articulate that support for the Jews as a people has nothing to do with upholding the policies of the Israeli state. [1986 February 15, GCN staff, “Our Movement Is No Place for Jew-hating”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 31, page 4:]