onwards and upwards
1
4.6
- idiom
- Informal
:
hacia adelante y hacia arriba
- And I feel like from here it's onward and upward, and I have to keep telling myself, and I want to tell the listeners that you have to keep telling yourself.
But hopefully it's just onward and upward.
- But hopefully it's just onward and upward.
- So onwards and upwards, I hope.
- The overall trend I think is onwards and upwards or in fact downwards as the third law.
Examples
-
With each small success, he feels that life is onwards and upwards.
-
So onwards and upwards.
Blog text (32) -
Onwards and upwards, as they say, keep your chin up, sweetie; something good will be just around the corner.
Blog text (9) -
Rob and Kristen have made such progress in their reconciliation; it's only onwards and upwards from here!
Blog text (27) -
After facing numerous challenges, she believes it's onwards and upwards from now on.
-
Despite the setbacks, their journey has been onwards and upwards since they made their decision.
Synonyms
1
4.6
Started well and now moving forward quickly
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal meanings of 'onwards' (moving forward) and 'upwards' (toward a higher/better position) combine to convey movement forward and improvement, so a learner who knows the parts can largely infer the general sense. However, the expression is a conventionalized encouraging formula with a metaphorical nuance (often used after setbacks to indicate progress), so its exact pragmatic use and nuance are not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Onwards and upwards paints a simple picture: onwards is moving forward and upwards is going up a hill or stairs. That's why it means 'moving to a better or more successful place' after problems.