From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishupheavalup‧heav‧al /ʌpˈhiːvəl/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable] CHANGE/BECOME DIFFERENTa very big change that often causes problems political upheaval Moving house is a major upheaval.
Examples from the Corpus
upheaval• He hadn't realised pregnancy was such a dislocating experience, or even that getting married itself would cause such an upheaval.• And upheaval has definitely reached North County.• Moving to a different school can be a big upheaval for young children.• The company managed to survive the economic upheavals of the last 20 years.• Changing jobs can be an exciting challenge, but it can also be a time of great emotional upheaval.• Still another possibility is that the United States is heading into an era of political upheaval and reform.• The upheavals of the era tended to come together, one kind of revolution easily attaching itself to another.• And yet, in the last ten years, what upheavals there have been.major upheaval• Catherine Crane had joined the division three months ago, creating a major upheaval.• This may entail a major upheaval, but it will be more than compensated for later this month.• It is manifest that they were too weak and uninfluential to produce such a major upheaval by their own efforts.• This pattern continued relatively undisturbed until 1959, when a short period of major upheaval began.Origin upheaval (1800-1900) heave 