# uproot

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˌʌpˈɹuːt/ · frequency rank #45,730

## Definitions
1. To tear up (a plant, etc.) by the roots, or as if by the roots; to extirpate, to root up.
2. To destroy (something) utterly; to eradicate, exterminate.
3. To remove (someone or something) from a familiar circumstance, especially suddenly and unwillingly.
4. Of oneself or someone: to move away from a familiar environment (for example, to live elsewhere).

## Etymology
PIE word
 *wréh₂ds
From up- (prefix indicating a higher direction or position) + root (“to tear up by the roots; (figuratively) to remove forcibly from a place; to eradicate, exterminate”, verb). Root is derived from root (“underground part of a plant”, noun), from Middle English rote, from Old English rōt, rōte, from Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”).

## Easily confused with
- **upshot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/uproot-vs-upshot)
- **uproar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/uproar-vs-uproot)
- **upfront** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/upfront-vs-uproot)

## Common misspellings (8)
`puroot`, `uporot`, `upproot`, `uproott`, `uprot`, `uproto`, `uprroot`, `urpoot`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/uproot