ups and downs

English

Pronunciation

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Noun

ups and downs pl (plural only)

1. (idiomatic) Periods of positive and negative events, moods, or interactions; highs and lows.

   Heidi and Mike had their ups and downs, but they stayed married for more than 60 years.

   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Our Street, page 34:

     So it is the world wags: that honest men and knaves alike are always having ups and downs of fortune, and that we are perpetually changing tenants in Our Street.

Synonyms

• vicissitudes (formal)

Translations

idiomatic

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 起伏 (zh) (qǐfú), 盛衰 (zh) (shèngshuāi), 浮沈 (zh), 浮沉 (zh) (fúchén), 沈浮 (zh), 沉浮 (zh) (chénfú)

• Finnish: ylä- ja alamäet, ylämäet ja alamäet
• French: des hauts et des bas (fr)
• German: Höhen und Tiefen f pl
• Italian: alti e bassi
• Japanese: 起伏 (ja) (きふく, kifuku), 浮き沈み (うきしずみ, ukishizumi)

• Latvian: baltās un nebaltās dienas
• Persian: پستی و بلندی‎ (pasti-o-bolandi), فراز و فرود‎ (farâz-o-forud), فراز و نشیب‎ (farâz-o-našib)
• Polish: wzloty i upadki (pl)
• Portuguese: altos e baixos (pt) m pl
• Russian: взлёты и паде́ния pl (vzljóty i padénija)
• Spanish: altibajos (es) m pl
• Swedish: upp- och nedgångar c pl
• Telugu: ఆటుపోట్లు (āṭupōṭlu)