Trivia Time

Which musician called the album Never Let Me Down his nadir?

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nadir

American  

[nay-der, nay-deer] / ˈneɪ dər, ˈneɪ dɪər /

noun

• nadirs
  plural

1. 

   Astronomy. the point on the celestial sphere directly beneath a given position or observer and diametrically opposite the zenith.

2. Astrology. the point of a horoscope opposite the midheaven: the cusp of the fourth house.

3. the lowest point; point of greatest adversity or despair.

   Synonyms:

   foot, floor, bottom

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nadir British  

/ ˈneɪdɪə, ˈnæ- /

noun

1. the point on the celestial sphere directly below an observer and diametrically opposite the zenith

2. the lowest or deepest point; depths

   the nadir of despair

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nadir Scientific  

/ nā′dər /

1. The point on the celestial sphere that is directly below the observer (90 degrees below the celestial horizon).

2. Compare zenith

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nadiral
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• nadirs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of nadir

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English nadir, nader, nadair, from Middle French nadir “point opposite the zenith,” from Medieval Latin nadir “point opposite the sun,” from Arabic naẓīr (as-samt) “opposite (the zenith)”; see also zenith ( def. )

Explanation

If a highly forgetful person loses his phone, his wallet, and then his car keys in separate instances all in one day, you could say that he has reached an organizational nadir. This means “lowest point.” This was originally strictly an astronomical term and is the opposite of the word zenith, which is the part of the sky located directly above a person’s head or, “high point.” In fact, nadir is derived from the Arabic nazir, which means “opposite to.” It is still used in astronomy to indicate the part of the celestial sphere located directly below an observer, but also more generally to describe the worst point of someone’s life or career.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nadir nadirs

The fast-and-furious dialogue hits its nadir when Madison’s Frances slips Jeff important documents that he can’t even read because she nonsensically starts chattering about the looming coronavirus.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

The nadir, arguably, was when they were forced to play matches away from Coventry, at Northampton Town, before later plummeting down to the fourth tier for the first time in 59 years in 2017.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

The young Lafayette seized the opportunity to avenge his father’s death and his country’s humiliation, arriving in America in 1777, at only 19 years old, as the patriot cause was at its nadir.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

And even at its nadir, the drawdown at the index level was never all that severe: At its intraday low on June 9, the S&P 500 was down just 4.9% from its record high.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

His father wasn’t growing old: he had reached some kind of nadir ten or twelve years ago and now he was growing backward, aiming toward middle age, maybe youth.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

The year 1893 was one of two significant economic nadirs during the decade, the second coming in 1897.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2024

He alludes to companies that have rebounded from nadirs of public controversy stemming from unethical decisions, such at Tyco, which saw two of its executives plead guilty to stealing hundreds of millions of dollars.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 19, 2020

“King Lear” tells a story of steady decline, whereas “Coriolanus” has peaks and nadirs aplenty to signal a bumpier narrative ride.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 28, 2019

They played fast and loose with our capacity to watch rubbish by finding fresh nadirs to which to stoop.

From Slate ● Sep. 24, 2011

Many of them, put together just after epidemics, would have represented population nadirs, not approximations of precontact numbers.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• rock bottom