downbeat

[ doun-beet ]
See synonyms for: downbeatdownbeats on Thesaurus.com

nounMusic.
  1. the downward stroke of a conductor's arm or baton indicating the first or accented beat of a measure.

  2. the first beat of a measure.

adjective
  1. gloomy or depressing; pessimistic: Hollywood movies seldom have downbeat endings.

Origin of downbeat

1
1875–80; down1 + beat (noun)

Words Nearby downbeat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use downbeat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for downbeat

downbeat

/ (ˈdaʊnˌbiːt) /


noun
  1. music the first beat of a bar or the downward gesture of a conductor's baton indicating this: Compare upbeat

adjective
  1. informal depressed; gloomy

  2. informal relaxed; unemphatic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012