downbeat

American  

[doun-beet] / ˈdaʊnˌbit /

noun

Music.

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.

downbeat British  

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of downbeat

1875–80; down ¹ + beat (noun)

Example Sentences

One silver lining is that even the most downbeat year-end S&P 500 target now implies nearly 10% upside.

From Barron's

Sentiment was decidedly downbeat as the trading week got under way in Asia, which is particularly vulnerable to energy market turmoil as it imports the bulk of its power needs.

From The Wall Street Journal

While lower-income consumers are slowing down, there’s been a long-running disconnect between downbeat consumer sentiment and strong spending, he noted, pointing to a strong holiday shopping season at the end of 2025.

From MarketWatch

Looking ahead: “We doubt that future Michigan survey results will look as rosy as this one, and this report is pretty downbeat,” said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.

From MarketWatch

Compounding the downbeat mood was news Friday that the US economy unexpectedly lost jobs in February, while unemployment edged up.

From Barron's