Atop Meaning
/əˈtɒp/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
prepOn the top of.
prepOn the top (with of).
Sentence Examples
The woman is atop the table.
I admire the view of the entire city atop the Ferris wheel.
Twig in beak, the diminutive bird pranced atop the thick branch.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cat sat comfortably ____ the highest shelf in the library.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The small bird sat ____ the tall fence and sang a beautiful song.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English a- English top English atop From a- (“on”) + top.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"For example, when trailers containing new automobiles were first piggybacked two areas of potential damage became evident: (1) diesel locomotive exhaust left a film of oil on the new autos; and (2) auto windshields could be scarred or cracked by the metal-tipped "tell-tales" which warn men atop trains of oncoming bridges or tunnels."
— 1960 November, David Morgan, “"Piggyback"—U.S. success story”, in Trains Illustrated, page 684:
"A virtue is made out of a necessity, with the child feeling far more atop and master of his oddness, his behavior now deliberate or even clever."
— 1966, The Minnesota Review, volume 6, page 242:
""And other things," she echoed, nodding slowly and resting her body a little more atop him again."
— 2006, Dewey Lambdin, The Gun Ketch, page 48:
"The leading voices of the womanosphere are using a similar strategy. As Brittany Hugoboom put it in an op–ed for the rightwing outlet Quillette: “Conservatives will never win if they imagine themselves as combatants atop defensive battlements, hurling abuse on the mass media. We need to involve ourselves in the creation of pop culture.”"
— 2025 April 24, Anna Silman, “Now comes the ‘womanosphere’: the anti-feminist media telling women to be thin, fertile and Republican”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 Apr 2025:
"The Super Bowl rendition began with workers falling from utility poles in a flash of sparks, a nod to the blackouts that crippled the U.S. territory for several months following Hurricane Maria in 2017. […] In one segment, Bad Bunny performed “El Apagón” atop a replica utility pole."
— 2026 February 9, Jon Caramanica, “Bad Bunny Super Bowl Halftime Review: A History Lesson Full of Puerto Rican Pride”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Feb 2026:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cat sat comfortably ____ the highest shelf in the library.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The small bird sat ____ the tall fence and sang a beautiful song.