onwards and upwards
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Improving or becoming more successful
Literally: moving forward and rising
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “Irreversible binomial” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “onwards and upwards” mean?
Improving or becoming more successful Literally: moving forward and rising
Is “onwards and upwards” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.