downfall
A precipitous decline in fortuneA precipitous decline in fortune; death or rapid deterioration, as in status or wealth.
» Your arrogance will be your downfall.
Meaning
3 senses(countable, uncountable)A precipitous decline in fortune; death or rapid deterioration, as in status or wealth.
Many economic and political reasons led to the downfall of the Roman Empire.
Niedergang, Untergang, Verfall
паде́ниеpadénije, круше́ниеkrušénije, обва́лobvál
(countable, uncountable)The cause of such a fall; a critical blow or error.
Orson Scott Card It is the downfall of evil, that it never sees far enough ahead.
Ruin
(countable, uncountable)An act of falling down.
a downfall of rain
- failure that results in a loss of position or reputation
- a sudden decline in strength or number or importance
- the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist)
Examples
29 sentencesYour arrogance will be your downfall.
His arrogance led to his downfall.
deSeine Arroganz führte ihn in den Ruin.
Arrogance leads to a person's downfall.
Yanni's arrogance will be his downfall.
What's the cause of this downfall?
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 2
Origin
From down- + fall. In this spelling, from 16th century; spelled as two words from 13th cenFrom down- + fall. In this spelling, from 16th century; spelled as two words from 13th century.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: downfallsSynonyms
5 synonymsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable