Uphill Describes the Struggle More Than the Slope
Uphill means going up a slope. In practice the word is used far more often for difficult tasks than for actual hills.
Uphill means towards the top of a slope. The literal sense is now the minority one: most uses of the word describe effort rather than gradient, in fixed phrases like *an uphill battle*, *an uphill struggle* and *an uphill task*. The metaphor works because everyone knows the difference between walking up and walking down.
- Up a slope. *The path runs uphill.*
- Difficult. *An uphill battle.*
- Uphill struggle — a hard sustained effort. *An uphill struggle all year.*
- Downhill — the opposite, and often means getting worse. *It went downhill after that.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Adverb | uphill | Walk uphill. |
| Adjective | uphill | An uphill road. |
| Opposite | downhill | A downhill run. |
| Related | upward | An upward slope. |
| Related | ascent | A steep ascent. |
- The last mile is all uphill.Literal.
- Persuading them will be an uphill battle.Figurative, the commonest use.
- His health went downhill quickly.The opposite, also figurative.
Uphill and downhill are not symmetrical
- Uphill — almost always about difficulty
- Downhill — usually about decline, not ease
- Downhill from here — ambiguous: easier, or worse, depending on context
- It's all downhill — normally means deteriorating
- The asymmetry trips up learners of English regularly
From *up* plus *hill*, Old English *hyll*. The compound is recorded from the 1500s and the figurative sense from the 1600s.
Does it's all downhill from here mean good or bad?
Usually bad — things are deteriorating. It can mean the hard part is over, but that reading is less common.
Is uphill an adjective or an adverb?
Both. You can walk uphill, and you can face an uphill task.