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Upon vs Towards - What's the difference?

upon | towards |

As prepositions the difference between upon and towards

is that upon is being above and in contact with another while towards is variant of toward.

As adverbs the difference between upon and towards

is that upon is being the target of an action while towards is in the direction of something (indicated by context).

As an adjective towards is

near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.

upon

English

Alternative forms

* vpon (obsolete)

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • Being above and in contact with another.
  • :
  • *{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Hughes Mearns)
    • , title= , passage=Yesterday, upon the stair / I met a man who wasn’t there / He wasn’t there again today / I wish, I wish he’d go away …}}
  • Being directly supported by another.
  • :
  • :
  • Being followed by another so as to form a series.
  • :
  • At a prescribed point in time.
  • :
  • .
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.}}
  • *
  • *:Little disappointed, then, she turned attention to "Chat of the Social World," gossip which exercised potent fascination upon the girl's intelligence.

    • Usage notes

    A somewhat elevated word; the simpler, more general term on is generally interchangeable, and more common in casual American speech. In poetic or legal contexts, upon is common.

    Synonyms

    * (all senses) on * (time) at

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Being the target of an action.
    • He was set upon by the agitated dogs
  • Incidental to a specified point in time or order of action; usually combined with here-, there- or where-.
    • The clock struck noon, whereupon the students proceeded to lunch.

    Derived terms

    * hereupon * thereupon * whereupon

    Statistics

    *

    towards

    English

    Preposition

    (en-prep) (mainly in British English )
  • Variant of toward.
  • * 1835 , Sir , Sir (James Clark Ross), Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1 , pp.284-5
    • Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Everton 0-2 Liverpool , passage=But with Goodison Park openly directing its full hostility towards Atkinson, Liverpool went ahead when Carroll turned in his first Premier League goal of the season after 70 minutes.}}

    Synonyms

    * toward

    Usage notes

    * Although some have tried to discern a semantic distinction between the words (term) and (towards), the difference is merely dialectal. (term) is the most common form, while (toward) tends to appear only in American English.

    See also

    * See

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (obsolete) In the direction of something (indicated by context).
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.iv:
    • Thus as he spake, lo far away they spyde / A varlet running towards hastily [...].

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Near; at hand; in state of preparation; toward.
  • * Shakespeare
    • We have a trifling foolish banquet / Towards .

    Statistics

    * English prepositions