downturn
Americannoun
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an act or instance of turning down or the state of being turned down.
the downturn of a lower lip in a permanent pout.
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a turn or trend downward; decrease or decline.
The new year brought a downturn in the cost of living.
noun
Etymology
Origin of downturn
First recorded in 1925–30; noun use of verb phrase turn down
Explanation
A dip or reduction in an economic measure is a downturn. If a company makes less money than it did last year, for example, that's a downturn. You'll often find the word downturn in business or economic news, describing the country's entire economy, or the activity of a particular sector of the economy. If car sales decline, that's a downturn, and if fewer homes are sold, it's a downturn in the housing market. Ever since the mid-1920s, the word downturn has been commonly used by economists and business reporters.
Vocabulary lists containing downturn
"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 14
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Games of Deception
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"The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century," Vocabulary from Chapter 14
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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.
Appeared in the October 3, 2025, print edition as 'Use of AI Helped a Logistics Giant Thrive in a Downturn'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025
Downturn, start up THE list of famous companies founded during economic downturns is long and varied.
From Economist • Jan. 5, 2012
On Wednesday night the finished film, Downturn, was screened at the London Short Film Festival as part of the London Lives night at the Docklands Museum on West India Quay.
From The Guardian • Jan. 14, 2011
An Untypical Downturn While a stimulus package of that magnitude would have spurred economic growth in any previous post–World War II downturn, we were not in a typical recession by any measure.
From BusinessWeek • Sep. 2, 2010
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.
