Dictionary

downer en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈdaʊnə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈdaʊnɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

Etymology tree English down Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English downer From down + -er.

Meanings

1. (slang) A negative drug trip.
   • Normally those pills give me a boost, but last night they gave me a downer.
2. (slang) Any drug that has depressant qualities.
   • Eye Girl is very moody. She is always zooted up on some really foul combination of uppers and downers and Rollerblading. Her bouts of Rollerblading seem to coincide with fights with Eye Guy. 1997, Maggie Estep, Diary of an Emotional Idiot: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harmony Books, →ISBN, page 6:
   • Say, for example, a person starts with the use of a downer that reduces any anxiety and produces a sense of relaxation. When their energy levels drop, they take a stimulant in order to continue participating in the party or another event. This creates a cycle that could lead to significant drug use and drastically increases the risk of overdose or death. It is critical to know which drugs are uppers and downers to avoid this combination. 2024 April 10 [2020 August 27], Nick B., “Which Drugs Are Uppers And Downers?”, in The Freedom Center, archived from the original on 21 Feb 2025:
3. (slang) Something or someone disagreeable, dispiriting or depressing; a killjoy.
   • Geffen had never understood why such a downer of a film was being released over the holidays. 2010, Nicole LaPorte, The Men Who Would Be King:
   • You don't really need to know me. I'm kind of a downer. 2009, Spike Jonze, Where the Wild Things Are:
4. A livestock animal that has collapsed.
   • The ten-dollar bill was for eating money and the prod pole to be used when the train stopped for water in getting "downers" back on their feet. 1964, John Hendrix, If I Can Do It Horseback: A Cow-Country Sketchbook, page 40:
   • The two plants where I saw great reductions in downers have reduced, but not eliminated Paylean use. 2009, Meat & Poultry - Volume 55, Issues 7-12, page lxxii:
   • In 1993, Farm Sanctuary produced undercover footage of downers being lifted by forklift at Hallmark, prompting introduction of a California downer cattle law the next year. Either management provided instructions to get the downers moving or was asleep at the wheel and let employees run wild — in either case, it's an indictment of management. 2009, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, Hallmark/Westland Meat Recall:
5. A form of industrial action in which workers down tools and refuse to work.
   • In the Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, a strike may be a downer or a stoppage as defined by the Department. 1978, C. T. B. Smith, Great Britain. Dept. of Employment, Manpower Papers (issue 15, page 158)
   • Cowley experienced a rash of 'downers' — short, sharp, unofficial strikes. 1985, Alex Callinicos, Mike Simons, The Great Strike: The Miners' Strike of 1984-5 and Its Lessons:

Forms

Antonyms

upper

Descendants

Downer

Relateds

sit-downer · Far-Downer · Debbie Downer

Synonyms

killjoy · spoilsport · buzzkill (something or someone disagreeable)

Translations (4)

mi (pūroi) haupēhi (drug) · bg успокоително (drug) · de Downer (drug) · sv nedåttjack (drug)

downer en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ˈdaʊnə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈdaʊnɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

Perhaps related to tanner (“sixpence”).

Meanings

1. (UK, obsolete, slang) A sixpence.
   • The price of a case (five shillings piece bad) from the smasher is about one shilling; an alderman (two and sixpence) about sixpence; a peg (shilling) about threepence; a downer or sprat (sixpence) about twopence. 1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 90:

Forms