crestfallen
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of crestfallen
Explanation
If you are crestfallen, you are dark, depressed, and down in the dumps. You are in need of a pep talk, or at least a hug. Although experts can't agree on the origins of crestfallen, they do know it has something to do with fallen or defeated animals. Some say it is cocks, with their crested heads, that are responsible for the words' origins. Others think it has to do with horses bowing their heads (touching their heads to the crest of their chests) when bested in battle. No matter which animal gave us the word, today's humans are crestfallen when they are in low spirits.
Vocabulary lists containing crestfallen
Of Mice and Men
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Lord of the Flies
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In the Mood? 100 Words to Describe Emotions
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Crestfallen, Beverly Shaw visited often, complaining to the staff and taking the “after” pictures she would later use on her flyers.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 29, 2023
Crestfallen, Geschke and Warnock told themselves, “We’ve spent two years of our lives trying to sell this thing and they’re going to put it under a black shroud for another five,” Warnock recalled.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 23, 2023
Crestfallen and quiet, she released her emotions in a tsunami of points throughout practice, just like the time she dropped 54 points in a city championship game.
From New York Times • Jan. 3, 2022
Crestfallen, he begins deliberately undermining the rest of the date: rudely checking his phone, belching, and complaining that his rear-end itches because he couldn’t be bothered to wipe properly.
From Salon • Apr. 1, 2017
Crestfallen, he gazed mutely at the false animal; he took it back from her, fiddled with the legs as if baffled—he did not seem quite to understand.
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
