Definition of Downfall

1. Noun. Failure that results in a loss of position or reputation.

Exact synonyms: Ruin, Ruination
Generic synonyms: Failure
Specialized synonyms: Finish
Derivative terms: Ruin

2. Noun. The falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist).

3. Noun. A sudden decline in strength or number or importance. "The fall of the House of Hapsburg"
Exact synonyms: Fall
Generic synonyms: Weakening
Specialized synonyms: Anticlimax
Derivative terms: Fall, Fall
Antonyms: Rise

Definition of Downfall

1. n. A sudden fall; a body of things falling.

Definition of Downfall

1. a sudden fall [n -S]

Downfall Pictures

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Lexicographical Neighbors of Downfall

downburst
downbursts
downcast
downcast
downcasts
downcome
downcomes
downcourt
downdraft
downdrafts
downdraft gasifier
downed
downer
downers
Downey cell
downfall (current term)
downfallen
downfalls
downfield
downflow
downflows
downforce
downforces
downgrade
downgraded
downgrades
downgrading
downhaul
downhauls
downhearted

Literary usage of Downfall

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Methods of Practical Hygiene by Karl Bernhard Lehmann (1893)
"The observation of the downfall is, from various grounds, ... The quantity of the downfall and its distribution (the number of rainy days) has a great ..."

2. A History of English Dramatic Literature to the Death of Queen Anne by Adolphus William Ward (1899)
"Sir John Oldcastle here appears as nothing more than an injured 1 The speeches of Leicester, downfall, iv. 1, are very effective; the references to the bear ..."

3. The History of Ancient Art by Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1872)
"The really precise time at which the entire downfall of art occurred was previous to the age of Constantine, at the time of the great disorder occasioned by ..."

4. Library of the World's Best Literature: Ancient and Modern by Edward Cornelius Towne (1898)
"Zola traces their downfall in the pitiless and intimate fashion characteristic of him, and not difficult with characters created to be analyzed. ..."

5. The Cambridge Modern History by Adolphus William Ward, George Walter Prothero (1907)
"downfall of Continental System. to contraband trade, as were the silks and muslins of southern climes. Consequently the export trade all but vanished, ..."

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