Dictionary

crestfallen en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈkɹɛstfɔlən/ (US)
• /ˈkɹɛstfɑlən/ (cot-caught-merger)
• /ˈkɹɛstfɔːlən/ (UK)
• (Australia) audio
• (US) audio cot-caught

Etymology

From crest + fallen, from the appearance of a horse with its crest (head) on its chest after defeat in a battle.

Meanings

1. Sad because of a disappointment.
   • Diniz was a dark man who seemed closed in on himself, always crestfallen, walking along the walls and corners, answering questions with monosyllables and whispered sounds. 2015, Alda de Jesus Oliveira, The PONTES Approach to Music Education: Learning to Reach Out:
   • 'He did it awfully well,' said the crestfallen Rat. 1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, chapter 6, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
   • Yes, unfortunately, she'd heard him correctly. She was crestfallen. Here she'd come so far to ask him the question, and he didn't know the answer. 2010, Pseudonymous Bosch, chapter 3, in This Isn't What It Looks Like:
   • I rushed there; no lamp! Crestfallen, I returned to my guru. 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda, chapter 15, in Autobiography of a Yogi:
   • Gregson looked quite crest-fallen. 1887, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “A Study in Scarlet”, in Beeton’s Christmas Annual, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward, Lock & Co., part I (Being a reprint from the reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., […]), chapter VI (Tobias Gregson shows What He Can Do), page 38:
   • Tom's cheeks burned. He gathered himself up and sneaked off, crushed and crestfallen. 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XII, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 112:
   • Brother Gáeth was a tall man with almost ugly features and a permanently crestfallen expression that made the elderly abbot immediately feel guilty that he had spoken so roughly. 2011, Peter Tremayne, The Chalice of Blood: A Mystery of Ancient Ireland, page 9:
   • He had short, dark hair, liberally flecked with silver-grey strands, heavily lidded brown eyes and a mouth that turned down at the edges, giving him a permanently crestfallen expression. 2021, James Bowring, Down in the Country: A Carlow Valley Mystery:
   • And we can sense that, though permanently crestfallen, there is something in his nature, which makes him accept solitude, that is rather fearless. 1995, Roger Lewis, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, page 743:
   • Valentine’s Day means different things for different people. For Homer, it means forking over a hundred dollars for a dusty box of chocolates at the Kwik-E-Mart after characteristically forgetting the holiday yet again. For Ned, it’s another opportunity to prove his love for his wife. Most germane to the episode, for Lisa, Valentine’s Day means being the only person in her entire class to give Ralph a Valentine after noticing him looking crestfallen and alone at his desk. 2012 August 5, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “I Love Lisa” (season 4, episode 15; originally aired 02/11/1993)”, in A.V. Club, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2013:
   • Hall tried to convey everything by grimaces and dumb show, but Mrs. Hall was obdurate. She raised her voice. So Hall and Henfrey, rather crestfallen, tiptoed back to the bar, gesticulating to explain to her. 1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter 12, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:
2. (obsolete, of a horse) Having the crest, or upper part of the neck, hanging to one side.

Forms

Deriveds

crest-fall · crestfallenly · crestfallenness

Synonyms

sorrowful (depressed) · despondent (depressed) · dejected (depressed) · blue (depressed) · depressed (depressed) · disappointed (sad because of a recent disappointment) · down in the dumps (depressed) · disillusioned (sad because of a recent disappointment) · downcast (depressed)

Translations (56)

ro dezamăgite (sad because of a recent disappointment) · cmn 喪氣 /丧气 (sad because of a recent disappointment) · ru уны́лый (depressed) · ru удручённый (depressed) · mi tapou (sad because of a recent disappointment) · pl strapiony (sad because of a recent disappointment) · mi parakore (sad because of a recent disappointment) · cmn 氣餒 /气馁 (sad because of a recent disappointment) · hu elszontyolodott (sad because of a recent disappointment) · fr abattu (sad because of a recent disappointment) · nl terneergeslagen (depressed) · sv modfälld (sad because of a recent disappointment) · cs sklíčený (sad because of a recent disappointment) · es de capa caída (sad because of a recent disappointment) · fi pää painuksissa (sad because of a recent disappointment) · ro dezamăgit (sad because of a recent disappointment) · fi allapäin (depressed) · it a testa bassa (sad because of a recent disappointment) · es cariacontecido (sad because of a recent disappointment) · de niedergeschlagen (depressed) · ru па́дший ду́хом (depressed) · bg клюмнал (sad because of a recent disappointment) · hu levert (depressed) · fr déçu (sad because of a recent disappointment) · pl frasobliwy (sad because of a recent disappointment) · mk нераспо́ложен (depressed) · hu csüggedt (depressed) · hu orrát lógatva (sad because of a recent disappointment) · cmn 沮喪 /沮丧 (depressed) · ro dezamăgită (sad because of a recent disappointment) · fi allapäin (sad because of a recent disappointment) · hu letört (sad because of a recent disappointment) · pl zmartwiony (sad because of a recent disappointment) · de geknickt (sad because of a recent disappointment) · ru пода́вленный (sad because of a recent disappointment) · ru уны́лый (sad because of a recent disappointment) · de enttäuscht (sad because of a recent disappointment) · nl beteuterd (sad because of a recent disappointment) · nl gedeprimeerd (depressed) · es alicaído (sad because of a recent disappointment) · ro dezamăgiți (sad because of a recent disappointment) · cs skleslý (sad because of a recent disappointment) · cmn 垂頭喪氣 /垂头丧气 (sad because of a recent disappointment) · es murrio (depressed) · bg паднал духом (depressed) · bg унил (sad because of a recent disappointment) · pl zafrasowany (sad because of a recent disappointment) · ru пода́вленный (depressed) · fi masentunut (depressed) · mi para (sad because of a recent disappointment) · mk по́тиснат (sad because of a recent disappointment) · hu lógó orral (sad because of a recent disappointment) · es abatido (sad because of a recent disappointment) · pt cabisbaixo (sad because of a recent disappointment) · hu csalódott (sad because of a recent disappointment) · ru упа́вший ду́хом (depressed)