upsidedown

Upsidedown is a term used primarily as an adjective or adverb to describe an object, situation, or orientation in which the top side is facing away from the normal upright position. The standard English spellings are upside-down and upside down; "upsidedown" as a single word is nonstandard but appears in branding or casual writing and may also be encountered as a proper noun.

Literal uses include turning items over, such as a cup turned upside down, or a pancake flipped to cook the other side. In geometry and cartography, an image or map can be presented upside down relative to a conventional orientation. In physics and engineering, "upside down" can describe components installed in inverted alignment or the effect of gravity on an object.

Figuratively, being "upside down" can describe disorder, reversals of fortune, or unexpected outcomes, as in plans that have been turned upside down. The term also appears in literature and media to indicate inversion or alternate realities; for example, the "Upside Down" is a fictional parallel universe in the science fiction series Stranger Things.

See also: inverted, reversed, rotated, orientation.