downhill

1 of 3

adverb

down·​hill ˌdau̇n-ˈhil How to pronounce downhill (audio)
1
: toward the bottom of a hill
2
: toward a worsened or inferior state or level
used especially in the phrase go downhill

downhill

2 of 3

noun

down·​hill ˈdau̇n-ˌhil How to pronounce downhill (audio)
1
: a descending slope
2
a
: the sport of skiing on downhill trails
often used attributively
b
: a skiing race against time down a trail
finished second in the downhill

downhill

3 of 3

adjective

down·​hill ˈdau̇n-ˌhil How to pronounce downhill (audio)
1
: not difficult : easy
after that problem the rest was downhill
2
: sloping downhill
3
: closer to the bottom of an incline
your downhill ski
4
: progressively worse
5
American football : relating to, employing, or being a style of running in which a ballcarrier moves powerfully forward into the line of scrimmage and down the field toward the opponent's end zone without a lot of movement toward the sidelines to avoid tacklers
a downhill runner
The Tigers use their tight ends as blockers. They're more suited to an assertive, downhill running game now.Bernie Miklasz

Examples of downhill in a Sentence

Adverb It is easier to ride a bike downhill than uphill. Her career is heading downhill. After his divorce, he went downhill fast. The service has gone downhill under the new owner. Noun most runners will have their best splits on the downhills Adjective The second half of the hike is mostly downhill. The worst part is over. It's all downhill from here. The first part of the movie was pretty good, but after that it was all downhill. His career has been all downhill in recent years.
Recent Examples on the Web
Adverb
Just – just everything has just really gone downhill in the last 3.5 years for us in Yuma and Arizona completely. CBS News, 13 Oct. 2024 Things go downhill from there (which is saying something). Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 10 Oct. 2024
Noun
When my maternal grandma died, my brother and I each got a set of downhill skis — that was a big deal for us. R29 Team, refinery29.com, 11 Oct. 2024 Thanks to metal edging and an enhanced rocker on this nimble ski, the downhill was a blast, too. Stephanie Pearson, Outside Online, 8 Oct. 2024
Adjective
Number of Bike Trails: 191 Most Popular Bike Trail: The crown goes to French Press, a 4.4-mile downhill romp in Snowmass’ Bike Park that is full of berms and rollers from top to bottom. Graham Averill, Outside Online, 12 Aug. 2024 Skiers and snowboarders have seen firsthand the changes that, according to a 2022 Canadian study, could render all but one of the previous 21 Winter Olympics cities too warm to reliably host downhill races, biathlons and halfpipe competitions by the end of the century. Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 2 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for downhill 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'downhill.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adverb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1535, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of downhill was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near downhill

Cite this Entry

“Downhill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/downhill. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

downhill

1 of 3 adverb
down·​hill ˌdau̇n-ˈhil How to pronounce downhill (audio)
1
: toward the bottom of a hill
sleds speeding downhill
2
: toward a worsened or lower state or level
her health went downhill quickly

downhill

2 of 3 adjective
down·​hill ˈdau̇n-ˌhil How to pronounce downhill (audio)
: sloping downhill

downhill

3 of 3 noun
down·​hill -ˌhil How to pronounce downhill (audio)
1
: the sport of skiing on downhill trails
downhill skiing
2
: a skiing race against time down a trail
finished second in the downhill

More from Merriam-Webster on downhill

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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