upward(s).
Although “upward” is generally the preferred adverb and adjective in American English, the form ending in “-s” has become established in the set phrase “upwards of” (= more than). But “more than” is usually better than “upwards of” — e.g.:
o “The company said that upwards of [read ‘more than’] 15 percent of the shares are now held by U.S. investors.” Peter John & Martin Brice, “USfunds Buy Reckitt,” Fin. Times, 1 July 1997, at 48.
o “If she’s right, the stock could rise upwards of [read ‘more than’] 61% to $35 by the end of next year.” Junius Ellis, “Investing Advice from a Professional,” Money, 1 Oct. 1997, at 231.
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Quotation of the Day: “In my own judgment, as a reader, the faults of most novels are the sentences — either they’re ambitious or they’re so unclear that they need to be rewritten. And what’s wrong with the rest of the novels I don’t finish is that the stories aren’t good enough to merit writing a novel in the first place.” John Irving, “Getting Started,” in Writers on Writing 98, 100 (Robert Pack & Jay Parini eds., 1991).
