downcast
Syllables: down·cast/ˈdaʊnkɑːst/US/ˈdaʊnˌkæst/
downcast adjective: of the eyes, a facial expression, etc.: looking downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
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Adjective
downcast (comparative more downcast, superlative most downcast)
- Of the eyes, a facial expression, etc.: looking downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
- Briefly then heere Dido, with downe caſt phiſnomie, parled.1582, Virgil, “The Third Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC; republished...
- [A]s before Empire and Arts made vvay, / (For no leſſe Harbingers vvould ſerve then they) / So they might ſtill, and point us out the place / VVhere firſt the Church ſhould raiſe her dovvn-caſt face.[1633], George Herbert, “The Church Militant”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are...
- Of a person or thing: cast or thrown to the ground.
- VVhere liues all vvoe? conduct him to vs three, / The dovvne-caſt ruines of calamitie.1600 or 1601 (date written), I. M. [i.e., John Marston], Antonios Reuenge. The Second Part. […], London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde [by Matthew Lownes] […]...
- […] Dovvncaſt Lucifer revolves his State, / VVith his fall'n Angels ſits in Dark Debate, / And from This Conſtellation bodes his Fate.1691, N[ahum] Tate, A Poem, Occasioned by His Majesty’s Voyage to Holland, the Congress at the Hague, and Present Siege of Mons, London: […] Richard Baldwin, […], →OCLC, page 9
- Of a thing: directed downwards.
- Of a person: feeling despondent or discouraged.
- His fine and lovely eyes were now lighted up with indignation, now subdued to downcast sorrow and quenched in infinite wretchedness.1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VII, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding...
- You seem so downcast. Has Mai gotten to you already?2007 September 21, Aaron Ehasz, “The Awakening” (10:37 from the start), in Giancarlo Volpe, director, Avatar: The Last Airbender, season 3 (Book Three: Fire), episode 1, spoken by Azula (Grey DeLisle)
- Synonyms:
- sorrowful, unhappy, atrabiliary, atrabilious, blitheless, dispirited, blue, bummed out, chapfallen, cheerless
- Of a person or thing: defeated, overthrown; also, destroyed, ruined.
Noun (1)
downcast (plural downcasts)
- Synonym of downthrow (“a depression of the strata on one side of a fault; also, the degree of downward displacement in such a fault”).
- a downcast dyke
- Synonyms:
- downthrow
Noun (2)
downcast (countable and uncountable, plural downcasts)
- An act of looking downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty; hence (uncountable, archaic), dejection, melancholy.
- [C]ome lets be ſad my girles, / That dovvne caſt of thine eye Olimpias, / Shovves a faind ſorrovv; […]c. 1608–1611 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher], The Maides Tragedy. […], London: […] [Nicholas Okes] for Francis Constable […], published 1619, →OCLC, Act II, signature E, recto
- I ſavv the reſpectful Dovvncaſt of his Eye, vvhen you catcht him gazing at you during the Muſick: He, I vvarrant, vvas ſurpriz'd, as if he had been taken ſtealing your VVatch. O! the undiſſembled Guilty Look!1722, Richard Steele, The Conscious Lovers. A Comedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], published 1723, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 37
- An act, or the situation, of being cast or thrown to the ground.
- A defeat, an overthrow; also, an act of destruction or ruin.
- A cast (“change of expression of a data type”) from supertype to subtype.
- Antonyms:
- upcast
- A ventilating shaft down which air passes in circulating through a mine.
Verb
downcast (third-person singular simple present downcasts, present participle downcasting, simple past and past participle downcast or (common, but sometimes proscribed) downcasted)
- To turn (the eyes) downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
- To cast or throw (something) downwards; also, to drop or lower (something).
- For there shall come a mightier blast, / There shall be a darker day; / And the stars, from heaven down-cast, / Like red leaves be swept away!1838 October, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Midnight Mass for the Dying Year”, in Voices of the Night, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1839, →OCLC, stanza 12, page 30
- To demolish or tear down (a building, etc.).
- To make (someone) feel despondent or discouraged; to discourage, to sadden.
- Synonyms:
- cast down
- To cast (“change the expression of”) (a data type) from supertype to subtype.
- Antonyms:
- upcast
- To reproach or upbraid (someone); also, to taunt (someone).
- To depose or overthrow (a leader, an institution, etc.); also (sometimes reflexive), to bring down (oneself or someone) from an exalted position; to humble.
- Synonyms:
- cast down
downcast meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
downcast in Tamil
- கீழ்நோக்கிய, மனந் தளர்ந்த, வாட்டமுற்ற, வெறுப்புற்ற
downcast in Urdu
- بجھا ہوا, جھکا ہوا, سرنگوں, اچاٹ
downcast in Bengali
- বিষণ্ণ, হতাশ, অবনত, অধোবদন
downcast in Malayalam
- disheartened, despondent, discouraged
- തലതാഴ്ത്തിയ, അധോമുഖമായ, മനസ്സിടിഞ്ഞ, വിഷണ്ണമായ, നിസ്സഹായാവസ്ഥയിലായ, വിഷണ്ണ
More languagesFewer languages
- downcast in Kannada
- ಕೊರಗುವ, ಉದಾಸೀನ, ನಿರುತ್ಸಾಹಿ, ಮನಗುಂದಿದ
- downcast in Sanskrit
- खिन्न khinna
Synonyms of downcast
- sorrowful
- unhappy
- atrabiliary
- atrabilious
- blitheless
- dispirited
- blue
- bummed out
- chapfallen
- cheerless
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- chopfallen
- crestfallen
- cut up
- damp
- dejected
- depressed
- despondent
- disgruntled
- disconsolate
- disheartened
- dismal
- doleful
- dolesome
- down
- down in the dumps
- down in the mouth
- downhearted
- downsome
- dull
- elegiac
- elegious
- forlorn
- gloomy
- glum
- grief-stricken
- grieving
- heavy-hearted
- heartsore
- heartsick
- inconsolable
Antonyms
Forms of downcast
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more downcast |
| superlative | most downcast |
| Noun | |
| plural | downcasts |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | downcasts |
| present participle | downcasting |
| past participle | downcast |
| past | downcast |
| past participle common error-unknown-tag proscribed sometimes | downcasted |
| past common error-unknown-tag proscribed sometimes | downcasted |
Origin of downcast
The adjective is derived from Middle English doun-casten, *adoun-casten (“(adjective) cast down, dejected; (verb) to break down (something); to overcome (someone); to overturn (something)”), from down (“in a downward direction; (figurative) to destruction”), adoun (“downward”) + casten (“to throw (something), fling, hurl; to overcome (someone), defeat, overpower; [etc.]”) (from Old Norse kasta (“to cast, throw”), from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw”), from *kas- (“to throw, toss; to bring up”); further etymology uncertain), modelled similarly to other constructions in Middle English such as adoun-throwen (“to throw down”) and adoun-werpen (“to throw down”)). The English word is analysable as down- (prefix meaning ‘lower direction or position’) + cast (“that has been thrown”, adjective). The noun is derived from the adjective.
From Middle English downcast (“misfortune”), adoun-cast (“destruction, overthrow”), from adoun (“downward”) + cast (“a throw, a cast”) (from Old Norse kast (“a throw”), from kasten (“to cast, throw”)), from Middle English casten adoun: see etymology 1. The English word is analysable as down- (prefix meaning ‘lower direction or position’) + cast (“act of throwing”, noun).
From Middle English doun-casten, *adoun-casten (“to cast or throw (something) downwards; to break down (something); to overcome (someone); to overturn (something)”), from down (“in a downward direction; (figurative) to destruction”), adoun (“downward”) + casten (“to throw (something), fling, hurl; to overcome (someone), defeat, overpower; [etc.]”): see etymology 1. The English word is analysable as down- (prefix meaning ‘lower direction or position’) + cast (“to throw”, verb).
Words formed from downcast
Words that rhyme with downcast
4 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about downcast
- What does downcast mean?
- Downcast means of the eyes, a facial expression, etc.: looking downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
- What is downcast in Tamil?
- Downcast in Tamil is கீழ்நோக்கிய, மனந் தளர்ந்த, வாட்டமுற்ற. See Downcast meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is downcast?
- Downcast can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce downcast?
- Downcast is pronounced /ˈdaʊnkɑːst/ (UK).
Words near downcast in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: downcast (page history and authors); downcast (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); downcast (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); downcast (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); downcast (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); downcast (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “downcast.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/downcast. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.