top·sy-tur·vy
ˌtäp-sē-ˈtər-vē 
1
: in utter confusion or disorder
2
: with the top or head downward : upside down
: turned topsy-turvy : totally disordered
Examples of topsy-turvy in a Sentence
Adjective
the office is still topsy-turvy even though we moved in months ago
Recent Examples on the Web
Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 15 Oct. 2025
In a topsy-turvy season where AFC faves Kansas City and Baltimore have faltered, and Jacksonville and Indianapolis have been major surprises, people still want to discount Tomlin and the Black and Gold.
—The Athletic Nfl Staff, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
The topsy-turvy Grinchmas tree with thousands of LED lights will be lit and snow soap-flakes will fall during a nightly ceremony.
—Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 15 Oct. 2025
Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2023
Pinsker’s characters always make the best of tricky situations, which only makes their struggles in her topsy-turvy worlds more heartbreaking.
—Charlie Jane Anders, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for topsy-turvy
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Adverb
The topsy-turvy Grinchmas tree with thousands of LED lights will be lit and snow soap-flakes will fall during a nightly ceremony.
—Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 15 Oct. 2025
In a topsy-turvy season where AFC faves Kansas City and Baltimore have faltered, and Jacksonville and Indianapolis have been major surprises, people still want to discount Tomlin and the Black and Gold.
—The Athletic Nfl Staff, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
The idea has a topsy-turvy charm—the notion of child actors and their parents running away from producers rather than after them—but the practice may have had a darker side.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
The topsy-turvy Grinchmas tree with thousands of LED lights will be lit and snow soap-flakes will fall during a nightly ceremony.
—Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 15 Oct. 2025
Noun
Within that film’s topsy-turvy multiverse, Quan was by turns a laundromat owner on the verge of divorcing his wife, a dashing romantic lead and an action hero.
—Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2023
Pinsker’s characters always make the best of tricky situations, which only makes their struggles in her topsy-turvy worlds more heartbreaking.
—Charlie Jane Anders, Washington Post, 7 Mar. 2023
See All Example Sentences for topsy-turvy
Cite this Entry
“Topsy-turvy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/topsy-turvy. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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