downer

American  

[dou-ner] / ˈdaʊ nər /

noun

• downers
  plural

1. Informal.

   1. a depressant or sedative drug, especially a barbiturate.

   2. a depressing experience, person, or situation.

2. Animal Husbandry. an old or diseased animal, especially one that cannot stand up.

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downer British  

/ ˈdaʊnə /

noun

1. Also called: down.  a barbiturate, tranquillizer, or narcotic Compare upper

2. a depressing experience

3. a state of depression

   he's on a downer today

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• downers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of downer

1910–15, for an earlier sense; 1965–70, downer for def. 1; down ¹ + -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

downer downers

I don’t want to end my response on a downer.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

But Riley stressed the film is not a downer portrayal of the struggle between social classes.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

Sorry to be a downer, but the reality is December and January are typically the months when companies cut the most jobs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 18, 2025

The ending’s a downer, all right, but you might just smile too.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025

Scrolling through CountDowners is a very serious downer.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

But downers don’t cut it when you’re making today’s attention span-driven family fare.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026

Here are a few more ways to fight this month’s financial downers:

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 1, 2024

The holdout by RB Melvin Gordon and the foot surgery for S Derwin James were preseason downers.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 30, 2019

If there are few equivalents in television to film’s great downers, that’s because the medium plays by very different rules.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2016

The networks will usually cut away to their own anchors and analysts — their stars — when they deem the convention doings to be ratings downers.

From New York Times ● Jul. 17, 2016