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.

---

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

---

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

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

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

It’s just a downer, an inappropriate introduction of ugly real-world truths.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026

Singer Emmy aims for a hopeful spin on a tragic story but, despite a peppy performance, it's a bit of a downer.

From BBC ● May 9, 2025

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

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025

Me: I really don't want to be a downer, but...“What if he’s dead?”

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

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

But dahlia downers had to answer to dahlia defenders, including, among others, legendary gardener-author Eleanor Perenyi.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 15, 2022

In combination, though, these talented men seem to bring out the deep-diving, wit-stifling downers in one another.

From New York Times ● Jul. 25, 2018

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