downside

/ˈdaʊnˌsaɪd/

downside noun: a disadvantageous aspect of something that is normally advantageous.

Noun

downside (plural downsides)

A disadvantageous aspect of something that is normally advantageous.
- The downside of obtaining a higher rank is that far more work is expected.
- Hazardous and nuclear waste came to represent the downside of industrial prosperity.1998, Hal Rothman, Gerald W. Nash, Richard W. Etulain, The Greening of a Nation?:, page 136
Synonyms:

flipside
A downward tendency, especially in the price of shares etc.
- The strategy is used both to increase the return on the underlying stock and to provide a limited amount of downside protection.1987, Information Circular
- I could go all the way back to 1982 and I'm sure the effects of the expiration will be even more exacerbated on the downside of the spread.1994, The Review of Futures Markets - Volume 13, Issues 1-2, page 112
The side of something that is at the bottom, or that is intended to face downward.
- An apparatus for heat-treating a flowing fluid, comprising a fluid source; a heat exchange unit provided with a regenerative section, the latter having an upside through which such fluid is caused to flow and a downside through which such fluid is caused to flow subsequent to being heated, said...1960, Lloyd T. Gustafson, Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, page 165
- The buildings on the downside of the station were demolished and new premises of modern design constructed on the new platform.1962, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological, page 144

Downside

A southern suburb of Dunstable, Central Bedfordshire district, Bedfordshire (OS grid ref TL0320).
A suburb of Eastbourne, East Sussex (OS grid ref TV5999).
A hamlet in Chilcompton parish, Somerset, previously in Mendip district, near Downside Abbey and Downside School (OS grid ref ST6450).
A small village in Shepton Mallet parish, Somerset, previously in Mendip district (OS grid ref ST6244).
A small village in Backwell parish and Wrington parish, North Somerset district, Somerset (OS grid ref ST4966).
A small village in Elmbridge borough, Surrey (OS grid ref TQ1158).
A rural community of the City of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.

disadvantage, drawback, snag: പോരായ്മ, അപര്യാപ്തത, ദോഷവശം, പ്രാതികൂല്യം, പ്രതികൂലത, അസൗകര്യം

The downside of being snaggle-toothed is that you whistle through them and people can't understand what you're talking about.2000, Zvonimir Balog, Nice Manners, Or, How Can I Avoid Growing Up to be a Twit, page 200:
The downside of using acid gas for enhanced oil recovery is that the incremental produced oil contains H₂S and has to be desulphurized.2005, Edward S. Rubin, Greenhouse Gas Control TechnologiesGreenhouse Gas Control Technologies, page 456:
In Table 3, the options are shown for the same client who will accept a one in ten chance of breaching the downside of -3% in any one year.2002, The Professional Investor, page 17:
Alienation: A stage on the downside of the passage wherein the holdfast and the antihero take actions which bring about a disintegration of personality.2006, James Bonnet, Stealing Fire from the Gods: The Complete Guide to Story for Writers and Filmmakers:

plural	downsides

Compound of down + side.

From down (a hill) + side.

What does downside mean?: Downside means a disadvantageous aspect of something that is normally advantageous.
What is downside in Malayalam?: Downside in Malayalam is പോരായ്മ, അപര്യാപ്തത, ദോഷവശം. See Downside meaning in Malayalam.
How do you use downside in a sentence?: The downside of being snaggle-toothed is that you whistle through them and people can't understand what you're talking about.
What part of speech is downside?: Downside can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce downside?: Downside is pronounced /ˈdaʊnˌsaɪd/.
What is the plural of downside?: The plural of downside is downsides.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-downside.ogg.

Cite this entry: “downside.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/downside. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.