downright
Americanadjective
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thorough; absolute; out-and-out.
a downright falsehood.
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frankly direct; straightforward.
a downright person.
- Synonyms:
- blunt, frank, open, forthright, candid
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Archaic. directed straight downward.
a downright blow.
adverb
adjective
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frank or straightforward; blunt
downright speech
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archaic directed or pointing straight down
adverb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of downright
Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at down 1, right
Explanation
The adjective downright is used to emphasize something, or to mean "utterly." For example, you could say that your brother's loud and junky old car is a downright embarrassment. Downright works as an adjective or adverb, so you can describe your dad's brownies as downright delicious, your sister's terrible jokes as downright awful, or your loss of the spelling bee as a downright disgrace. In the thirteenth century, downright meant "straight down," but it had changed by 1300, to instead mean "thoroughly."
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.
Broken, dirty and downright grotty donations are costing hospice charities tens of thousands of pounds to dispose of.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Traveling the globe for celestial events may seem downright loony—until you get a taste of the addictive world of “eclipse chasing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
In the eyes of many people, vultures are downright ugly.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
This past week, the problem for Musk might have been that SpaceX’s actual, impressive achievements seemed downright boring compared with what Musk likes to hype.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
“I mean, look at it, Joe. It’s an outrage, isn’t it? It’s downright bloody awful.”
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
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.
