downer
Americannoun
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Informal.
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a depressant or sedative drug, especially a barbiturate.
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a depressing experience, person, or situation.
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Animal Husbandry. an old or diseased animal, especially one that cannot stand up.
noun
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Also called: down. a barbiturate, tranquillizer, or narcotic Compare upper
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a depressing experience
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a state of depression
he's on a downer today
Etymology
Origin of downer
1910–15, for an earlier sense; 1965–70, downer for def. 1; down 1 + -er 1
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.
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
Like virtually all of the climate scientists I spoke with, he’s not trying to be a downer.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2025
Made in collaboration with Pallenberg’s son Marlon Richards, “Catching Fire” is a redemptive portrait that nevertheless plays like a downer.
From New York Times • May 2, 2024
A user from South Carolina had posted: Don’t want to be a downer, but I just had a sad thought.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
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.
