downstairs
Syllables: down·stairsUK/daʊnˈstɛəz//daʊnˈstɛɹz/
downstairs adjective: located on a lower floor.
Adjective
downstairs (comparative further downstairs or farther downstairs, superlative furthest downstairs or farthest downstairs)
- Located on a lower floor.
- The kids sleep in the downstairs bedroom; we sleep in the upstairs one.
- Originating in or associated with a lower, embedded clause, as opposed to the matrix clause.
- In referring to the conditions under which an upstairs negation can be associated with the lower clause, rather than the conditions under which a downstairs negative can be raised, I have tacitly endorsed the semantic or pragmatic approach to the NRP, without having dispelled the problems posed by...1989, Laurence R. Horn, chapter 5, in A Natural History of Negation, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 330
Adverb
downstairs (comparative further downstairs or farther downstairs, superlative furthest downstairs or farthest downstairs)
- Down the stairs.
- I have to walk downstairs to leave the building.
- The lodger lives downstairs.
- In or to hell.
- Regarding the genitalia.
- something wrong downstairs
- In or to a lower, embedded clause, as opposed to the matrix clause.
- Given that all English speakers conventionally use verbs like think and suppose so as to transmit their negation downstairs, while only some speakers operate with the analogous convention for guess, and none do for hope, the distribution of polarity until follows accordingly: […]1989, Laurence R. Horn, chapter 5, in A Natural History of Negation, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 346
Noun
downstairs (plural downstairs)
- The lower floor of a house, at ground level, or sometimes below.
- We looked over the house; downstairs was spacious, but upstairs really cramped.
- In particular, especially historically, the servants’ quarters.
- The family tried to ignore gossip from downstairs.
- Now the two of them rattled around in the old house, even with his office and small clinic sharing the downstairs with the kitchen, parlor, and dining room.1978, Tom Reamy, Blind Voices
- The genitalia.
- The wind lifted up her skirt and I caught a glimpse of her downstairs.
downstairs meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Punjabi
downstairs in Tamil
- கீழ்த் தளம்
downstairs in Urdu
- نچلی منزل
downstairs in Bengali
- নিচতলায়
downstairs in Punjabi
- downstairs
- تھلے thalle
More languagesFewer languages
- downstairs in Indonesian
- lantai bawah
- downstairs in Persian
- طبقهٔ پایین tabaqe-ye pâyîn
Examples of downstairs in a sentence
- When the bath overflowed, the downstairs lights fused, so we need a torch.
- Get out of bed, put on your slippers, and come downstairs.
- When she came downstairs and saw what her children were eating, she had a conniption.
Antonyms of downstairs
Forms of downstairs
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | further downstairs |
| comparative | farther downstairs |
| superlative | furthest downstairs |
| superlative | farthest downstairs |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | further downstairs |
| comparative | farther downstairs |
| superlative | furthest downstairs |
| superlative | farthest downstairs |
| Noun | |
| plural | downstairs |
Origin of downstairs
From down- + stair + -s.
Words formed from downstairs
Words that rhyme with downstairs
Questions about downstairs
- What does downstairs mean?
- Downstairs means located on a lower floor.
- What is downstairs in Tamil?
- Downstairs in Tamil is கீழ்த் தளம். See Downstairs meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is downstairs?
- Downstairs can be an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce downstairs?
- Downstairs is pronounced /daʊnˈstɛɹz/ (US).
Words near downstairs in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: downstairs (page history and authors); downstairs (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); downstairs (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); downstairs (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); تھلے (Punjabi) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-downstairs.ogg.
Cite this entry: “downstairs.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/downstairs. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.