Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
upsetter

upsetter

1 7.5
A person or team that unexpectedly beats a stronger opponent in a competition
  • noun
  • /ˈʌpˌsɛtər/
translation icon : sorpresor

Examples

  • He felt an intruder, more an upsetter of some balance he had no knowledge of.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • "Big Macc" may have been at the time of the most controversial stoppage you will likely see all year, yet the former WBO cruiser king had just landed a right uppercut, was anticipating the blows coming from "The Upsetter," and was, as he later stated in no uncertain terms, "riding the storm."

    Blog text (24)

  • The young team was considered underdogs, but they became the biggest upsetter by winning the championship.

  • In the tournament, the amateur fighter was a surprising upsetter against the reigning champion.

  • Everyone expected the top seed to win, but the newcomer emerged as the unexpected upsetter in the finals.

Synonyms

defeater
vsupsetter
3.9

A person or team that beats another in a contest

is used for a victory that surprises by beating a favored opponent

How Surprising

dark horse
11 4.8
upsetter
1 7.5
outsider
8 4.1

Surface Forms

upsetter singular
upsetters plural

Morphology

upsetter = upset (semi-transparent) = up + set + er

The word is regularly formed with the agentive suffix '-er' from 'upset', but the sports sense of 'upset' is somewhat specialized for many learners.

Etymology

Upsetter comes from upset, which originally meant 'to turn over' or 'to spoil', the same idea you see in upend. So an upsetter is someone who 'turns over' expectations by beating a stronger opponent, which is why it means an unexpected winner.