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/ˌtɒpsɪˈtəːvi/ · adverb
Backwards or upside down; also, having been overturned or upset..
Thou toyl'ſt in perrill, and the vvindie ſtorme, / Doth topſide-turuey toſſe thee as thou floteſt.
If we without his helpe can make a head / To puſh againſt a kingdome, with his helpe / We ſhal oreturne it topsie turuy down, [...]
China, and Ganges, and Japan, / Are Words my Papa taught my Pen. He ſays, they're Countries to be found, / In a ſtrange World, below the Ground; / Where Folks with Feet erected treat, / And diſtant, downward hang their Head; / Fearleſs they topſy turvy run, / With naught beneath—but Skies and Sun.
[A]s the Parſon told us laſt Sunday, nobody believes in the Devil now-a-days; and here you bring about a Parcel of Puppets dreſt up like Lords and Ladies, only to turn the Heads of poor Country Wenches, and when their Heads are once turned topſy turvy, no wonder every thing elſe is ſo.
[...] Maggie [...] had stolen unperceived to her father's elbow again, listening with parted lips, while she held her doll topsy-turvy, and crushed its nose against the wood of the chair— [...]
Diuilliſh it is to deſtroy a cittie, but more then diuilliſhe, to euert citties, to betraye countreies, to cause ſeruaunts to kyll their maiſters, parentes theyr children, children their parentes, wiues their huſbandes, and to turne all things topſy turuy, and yet it doth ſo, as ſhalbe declared.
If I travel Aunt, I touch at your Antipodes—your Antipodes are a good raſcally ſort of topſy turvy Fellows—If I had a Bumper I'd ſtand upon my Head and drink a Health to ’em— [...]
This argument, vaguely political in nature, took place as often as the two men met. It was a topsy-turvy affair, for the Englishman was bitterly anti-English and the Indian fanatically loyal.
Use topsy-turvy when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
Topsy-turvy means Backwards or upside down; also, having been overturned or upset..
Common synonyms include inverted, reversed, downside up, reverse.
Possible antonyms include unfastened, untied.
Thou toyl'ſt in perrill, and the vvindie ſtorme, / Doth topſide-turuey toſſe thee as thou floteſt.
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