downer
noun
down·er
| \ ˈdau̇-nər
\
\
Definition of downer
1
: a weak, sick, or crippled animal in shipment that is down and cannot get up
—often used attributively a downer cow
3
: someone or something depressing, disagreeable, or unsatisfactory
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Examples of downer in a Sentence
I took some downers to help me sleep.
“His cat just died.” “Oh, that's a real downer.”
Our conversation about death was a bit of a downer.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Reviews called out the film for being a lifeless downer and its audience scores were even worse. — James Hibberd, EW.com, "The 17 biggest summer box office winners and losers of 2019," 14 Aug. 2019 On a downer note: the Fortune 500 differs slightly from the S&P 500, and there are still a handful of companies on our list with zero women in board seats. — Fortune, "The Disturbing World of Deepfakes: The Broadsheet," 25 July 2019 Dumb-downers, finger-waggers, and campground counselors rule the roost. — Brian T. Allen, National Review, "Dijon’s Masterpiece of a Museum, Brilliantly Renovated," 20 July 2019 Double downer: The Yankees ran into an ugly double play to end the fifth. — Jake Seiner, courant.com, "Judge, Gregorius lift Yanks over Rays after CC starts fracas," 17 July 2019 More than Chestnut went home with money on Friday, with a total of $8,000 distributed among the top seven doughnut-downers. — Grace Dickinson, Philly.com, "257 doughnuts devoured by Joey Chestnut, world's No. 1 ranked competitive eater, in Center City," 1 June 2018 For decades, grill masters — and chow-downers of their work — have sworn that steaks taste better bone-in than bone-out. — Bill St. John, The Denver Post, "With steaks, closer to the bone makes a difference," 10 July 2019 That could be a big downer for Packers fans, who can be a thirsty bunch. — John Meyer, The Denver Post, "Four years after fire, iconic Rocky Flats bar reborn with a new name and a new aim," 3 July 2019 An exhibition in Boston features delightfully unsettling works with a sci-fi existentialist downer vibe. — Peter Plagens, WSJ, "‘Huma Bhabha: They Live’ Review: Spooky Sci-Fi Sculpture," 6 Apr. 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'downer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for downer
downer
noun
English Language Learners Definition of downer
informal
: a drug that makes the body relax
: something that is unpleasant or depressing
See the full definition for downer in the English Language Learners Dictionary
downer
noun
down·er
| \ ˈdau̇-nər
\
\
Medical Definition of downer
: a depressant drug
especially
: barbiturate