Upwards means towards a higher place or level. Look upwards, revised upwards, upwards of a thousand.
Upwards of means more than, which is a separate and useful sense: upwards of a thousand people means at least that many. Americans usually write upward without the s, and both are correct in Britain.
1adverbupwardsTowards a higher place or level.
“The balloon floated upwards until it disappeared into the clouds.”
upwards is a direction.
Also accepted in games: upward
Old English upweardes, up plus -wards, an ending marking direction, as in towards and backwards.
Old English
upweardes
Middle English
upwardes
English, today
upwards
From Middle English upwardes, from Old English upweardes, equivalent to up + wards. Cognate with Dutch opwaarts (“upwards”), German aufwärts (“upwards”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA