downside
Americannoun
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the lower side or part.
-
a downward trend, especially in stock prices.
-
a discouraging or negative aspect.
adjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of downside
Explanation
Something's drawback or disadvantage is its downside. The only downside you can see to getting a puppy is having to leave it when you go to school — although your parents may see more downsides than that. When the word downside was coined in the 1680s, it meant "underside" or "underneath." It wasn't until the late 20th century that this word came to mean "negative aspect of something otherwise seen as good." Today, the downside of a puppy isn't its fuzzy belly — it's the hours of training, late-night walks, money spent at the vet, and chewed-up shoes.
Vocabulary lists containing downside
Liar, Liar
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Free Period
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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.
As if the price volatility and fears about AI weren’t enough, the activist campaign underlines one downside of an IPO.
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
“IUL has a great story: you capture the upside of the market without downside risk,” said Boersma.
From MarketWatch • May 27, 2026
But research from the University of California, Davis suggests that this popular combination may have an unexpected downside.
From Science Daily • May 24, 2026
However, concerns over Indonesia’s export restructuring and firmer biodiesel demand could help cushion downside risks as it benefits Malaysia’s palm oil sector.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
But the downside of being clean was that the pixies instantly flew to me, and I had to walk with them fluttering all over my head and around my body.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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.
