Dictionary

comedown en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈkʌmˌdaʊn/ (General-American)
• (US) audio

Etymology

A deverbal from come down.

Meanings

1. A sudden drop to a lower status, condition or level; a disappointment or letdown.
   • I have to say it again, my Dearest Friend. What a wonderful Comedown for the Godhead! What a wonderful Comeuppance for Humankind! That’s because You, Lord God, Creator, Bellows Maker of All That Breathes, deigned to come to my hovel of a soul; once there, to fatten up the leanness of my soul with the plumpitude of Your Sacrament; that’s to say, with the plenitude of Your Divinity and Humanity. 2000, Thomas à Kempis, “[The Sacrament of the Altar: How to Prepare for It & What It Tastes Like] Frequency”, in William Griffin, transl., The Imitation of Christ: How Jesus Wants Us to Live […] A Contemporary Version, HarperSanFrancisco, →ISBN, page 238:
   • “So how are you getting on at UCL?” said Penny kindly, as if it must be a sorry comedown after Oxford. 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 5, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN:
   • He had two subjects of conversation, the shame and come-down of being a tramp, and the best way of getting a free meal. 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXVIII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:
2. (informal) A calm, mellow, or depressive period experienced after the (initial) high from taking drugs.

Forms

Coordinates

downgrade

Relateds

mellowed out · degradation · crash

Translations (5)

pl upadek (sudden drop to a lower status, condition or level; a disappointment or letdown) · pl degradacja (sudden drop to a lower status, condition or level; a disappointment or letdown) · da nedsættelse (sudden drop to a lower status, condition or level; a disappointment or letdown) · da fald (sudden drop to a lower status, condition or level; a disappointment or letdown) · ru паде́ние (sudden drop to a lower status, condition or level; a disappointment or letdown)