downfall
Americannoun
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a sudden loss of position, health, or reputation
-
a fall of rain, snow, etc, esp a sudden heavy one
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another word for deadfall
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of downfall
Explanation
A downfall is a sudden drop in status or strength. You might be winning at Monopoly until your opponents decide to team up against you, which leads to your downfall. Poor political decisions can result in the downfall of a government or party, and an economic depression can lead to the downfall of businesses and banks. A more literal, but less common, kind of downfall is when rain or snow falls down to the ground: "The downfall of snow will make the roads slippery tonight." The "decline in strength" meaning has been in use since the 14th century.
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.
See Examples For:
In adapting the premise for TV, series creator Nick Antosca dilutes the movies’ naked menace by pouring reasonable doubt into both Max’s profile and that of the Bowdens, the married lawyers behind his downfall.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
John Healey and Al Carns resigned from Sir Keir's government in June over a previous version of the plan, contributing to the prime minister's downfall.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
He abandons Lily to social, financial and bodily ruin—an end that feels as inevitable as the downfall of Antigone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
In Gdansk, she also met Poland's ex-president Lech Walesa, who led the 1980s Solidarity movement that provoked the downfall of the Communist regime in Warsaw.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
This was a rash decision and, as it happened, one that brought about his downfall.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
Whether any of these downfalls will result in a re-examination of how men treat women writ large looks less likely.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
One of the company’s downfalls was not having enough self-branded products, Lotman said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2024
The history of Silicon Valley is full of big bets and abrupt downfalls, but rarely has anyone traded his reputation for seemingly so little reward.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2024
What will be so frustrating for Arsenal and Liverpool is they were both architects of their own downfalls with desperately poor performances just when they needed victory most.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2024
Thunder clouds chased each other about the mountains, or met in sudden downfalls of rain.
From In Exile and Other Stories by Foote, Mary Hallock
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.
