downfall
Americannoun
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a sudden loss of position, health, or reputation
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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:
Even before her downfall, Holmes drew the media’s attention with her wide, unblinking eyes, bold red lip, deep voice and stilted speech — all of which became parody-ready upon her indictment.
From Salon ● Oct. 17, 2026
Captain Callum McGregor admitted Celtic were masters of their own downfall in the first half.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
The court battle—and the spotlight it attracted—would prove to be her downfall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
The filing caps a stunning downfall for a league that sowed chaos in professional golf from its inception.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
The chimney was secluded, but it could also be my downfall.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
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
But one of the downfalls certainly has been how divisive some of the language is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 2024
There are warnings of further heavy downfalls into Saturday.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2024
While this controversy is in its early stages, the breathless coverage related to this complaint generates a similar malevolent energy to the version that met the downfalls of Ellen DeGeneres and Martha Stewart before her.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2023
The masses of ice, sand, and earth, were vigorously attacked at the risk of provoking fresh downfalls; but the proceedings were ably directed by Mac-Nab.
From The Fur Country Seventy Degrees North Latitude by N. D'Anvers
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
