Upright, a.
Etymology: [AS. upright, uppriht. See Up, and Right, a.]
1. In an erect position or posture; perpendicular; vertical, or nearly vertical; pointing upward; as, an upright tree. With chattering teeth, and bristling hair upright. Dryden. All have their ears upright. Spenser.
2. Morally erect; having rectitude; honest; just; as, a man upright in all his ways. And that man [Job] was perfect and upright. Job i. 1.
3. Conformable to moral rectitude. Conscience rewards upright conduct with pleasure. J. M. Mason.
4. Stretched out face upward; flat on the back. [Obs.] " He lay upright." Chaucer. Upright drill (Mach.), a drilling machine having the spindle vertical.
1 more senses
Note: This word and its derivatives are usually pronounced in prose with the accent on the first syllable. But they are frequently pronounced with the accent on the second in poetry, and the accent on either syllable is admissible.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Upright, n.
Something standing upright, as a piece of timber in a building. See Illust. of Frame.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for upright; he lists it under honest, innocent, pure.
Where he writes about it:
Innocent is a negative word, expressing less than righteous, upright, or virtuous, which imply knowledge of good and evil, with free choice of the good. — from innocent
A little child or a lamb is innocent; a tried and faithful man is righteous, upright, virtuous. — from innocent