1
as in death
something that is the cause of one's ultimate failure or loss of life
an insatiable love of money would be their downfall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in deterioration
a change to a lower state or level
the gradual downfall of the Roman Empire
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in demise
a loss of status
an ill-advised speech that proved to be the cause of the candidate's downfall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in rain
a steady falling of water from the sky in significant quantity
we ducked under an overhang to shelter ourselves from the sudden downfall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of downfall
After the Civil War, the capital moved to Atlanta, which led to the economic downfall of Cook’s town.
—
Curtis Bunn, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2025
Nvidia's post-earnings downfall was very short lived.
—Fred Imbert, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2025
The thickest area of downfall was directly below.
—Jim Tschetter, Outdoor Life, 27 Aug. 2025
Armstrong has since said that this return led to his downfall.
—Emily Krauser, People.com, 24 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for downfall
Curtis Bunn, NBC news, 28 Aug. 2025
Nvidia's post-earnings downfall was very short lived.
—Fred Imbert, CNBC, 28 Aug. 2025
The thickest area of downfall was directly below.
—Jim Tschetter, Outdoor Life, 27 Aug. 2025
Armstrong has since said that this return led to his downfall.
—Emily Krauser, People.com, 24 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for downfall
Recent Examples of Synonyms for downfall
Noun
-
Leaders from around the world mourned the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk after he was assassinated at a Utah university Wednesday.—
Ross O'Keefe,
The Washington Examiner,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Advertisement ‘This is war’ Several on the right have likened Kirk’s death to a declaration of war.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Initial jobless claims indicate only a minimal pickup in layoffs and/or deterioration in labor conditions at present, a positive dynamic.—
Jeffrey Schulze,
Forbes.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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The largest member of the grass family, bamboo is combustible, susceptible to deterioration and weaker in rain, raising legitimate questions about its durability, Arup’s Ho said.—
Karina Tsui,
CNN Money,
10 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Young spoke with Variety about the unarticulated rivalry that the Lost Boys have with one another, playing an adult with the mind of a child and working with a real-life sheep while staging his character’s grisly demise.—
Leia Mendoza,
Variety,
10 Sep. 2025
-
The atmosphere also helped play a role in the rapid demise of Hurricane Lorena off the Mexico coast, sparing that region a direct landfall.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The National Weather Service issued a hazardous weather outlook for Saturday afternoon and evening, warning of storms with heavy rain, small hail, and wind gusts up to 40 mph in parts of north-central Colorado.—
Marco Cummings,
Denver Post,
14 Sep. 2025
-
If only this car had arrived a few months later during one of our brief bouts of winter rain.—
Mark Ewing,
Forbes.com,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The developing cauldron would trap Russian troops with few options beyond surrender or destruction.—
David Kirichenko,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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Earth, meanwhile, has so far been unable to bring about its own destruction.—
Quanta Magazine,
Quanta Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
Noun
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For engineers, all this means coupling MLOps with DevOps by integrating retraining triggers, model validation steps and performance degradation alerts directly into deployment pipelines.—
Adrian Bridgwater,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
High-speed charging generates substantial thermal energy, which can accelerate cell degradation, reduce the battery’s overall lifespan, and in rare cases, lead to safety issues like thermal runaway.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Then Nix and Harvey had a miscommunication that turned into a broken play, followed by a third-down incompletion to Engram that never looked quite right.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Without Jeanty being able to rifle off chunk yardage on downs, the team will remain one-dimensional behind the arm of Smith.—
James Brizuela,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The next name on the storm list for eastern Pacific systems is Mario.—
Doyle Rice,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
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While snowfall totals may not meet the threshold for a full storm warning, the advisory signals conditions likely to cause significant travel disruptions, especially during peak commute hours.—
Theo Burman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Downfall.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/downfall. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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