Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use downward in a sentence

40 example sentences · adverb, adjective

Downward means toward a lower level, whether in physical space, in a hierarchy, or in amount or value. Example: “His position in society moved ever downward.”

Examples of downward by meaning

adverbToward a lower level, whether in physical space, in a hierarchy, or in amount or value.

  • His position in society moved ever downward.
  • Prices have drifted downward in recent weeks.
  • The natural disasters put downward pressure on the creditworthiness of the nation’s insurance groups.

adverbSouthward.

  • If we turn to the New World, we find that among the American Indians, from the Eskimo of Alaska downward to Brazil and still farther south, homosexual customs have been very frequently observed.1927, Havelock Ellis, Studies in the Psychology of Sex, volume 2

adjectiveMoving, sloping or oriented down.

  • He spoke with a downward glance.
  • The tractive and braking forces are transmitted to the body through a downward projecting pivot pin in the normal way.1960 December, “The first hundred 25 kV a.c. electric locomotives for B.R.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 728
  • The good news is that data on broken rail incidents is showing a sustained downward trend.2026 March 18, Peter Plisner, “Tackling broken rails: the skills and technology improving safety”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 31

More sentences with downward

  • The road has a very sharp downward slope at that point.From the entry slope
  • Yesterday saw a downward drift in share prices and an upward surge in commodities.From the entry downward drift
  • A chart from online database FRED shows the downward trend in airfares before the COVID-19 pandemic.2023 May 17, Heather Hennerich, “What Makes a Market an Oligopoly?”, in Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, archived from the original on…. From the entry airfare
  • There are only months left to save our railway from a vicious downward spiral.2022 January 12, Sir Michael Holden, “Reform of the workforce or death by a thousand cuts?”, in RAIL, number 948, page 25. From the entry death by a thousand cuts
  • Since air is denser than steam at sterilization temperatures, air will be displaced downward in the deadleg.2018, Wayne P. Olson, Sterilization of Drugs and Devices: Technologies for the 21st Century, →ISBN. From the entry deadleg
  • As her looks went, she found herself on a downward spiral.2016, David T. K. Wong, “A Dusty Road”, in Collected Hong Kong Stories, Blacksmith Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 178. From the entry Yaumati
  • Now it's all about doing the downward facing dog in a silk hammock.2011 August 19, The Guardian. From the entry downward-facing dog
  • You're a show-er," Robin says, looking downward, comparing himself to George with a self-conscious pang.2011, K.M. Soehnlein, Robin and Ruby. From the entry show-er
  • Then lorek's rear claws dug into the links of Iofur's chain-mail sark and ripped downward.2007, Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials, Bluefire, →ISBN, page 259. From the entry sark
  • On keyboard instruments, the rail which serves to stop the downward movement of the key.2005 March 17, Sweetwater, “Keybed”, in InSync. From the entry keybed
  • There is no question that after these photos were taken I was on a downward slope, appearancewise.2005, Michael Winner, Winner Takes All: A Life of Sorts, Great Britain: Portico Books. From the entry appearancewise
  • After what feels like an hour, the ball arcs downward and swishes in.2003, Alan Eisenstock, “Injured Reserve”, in Ten on Sunday: The Secret Life of Men, New York, N.Y.: Atria Books, →ISBN, page 220. From the entry moon shot
  • The linker interposes the glue code in front of each downward call.2000, John R Levine, Linkers and Loaders. From the entry glue code
  • Point your toes away from you (downward) as far as you can.2000, Delores Christina Schoen, Adult Orthopaedic Nursing, →ISBN, page 35. From the entry point one's toes
  • He laddered the plant kingdom downward from classes to orders, genera, species, and varieties.1999, Lisbet Koerner, Linnaeus: Nature and Nation, Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 15. From the entry ladder
  • Walking into the pitcher on downward pointing hairs, victims slip and drown in the funnel.1989 May, Uwe George, “Venezuela's Islands in Time”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 551. From the entry pitcher
  • However, woebetide the male who takes that downward step into femininity.1989, Annie Woodhouse, “Conclusion: Transvestism and the Politics of Gender”, in Fantastic Women: Sex, Gender and Transvestism…. From the entry woe betide
  • Thirteen year old August is the eldest; he begins to pull the kite downward.1974, Witi Ihimaera, Whanau, Heinemann, page 76. From the entry august
  • In general upward changes are bumpy; downward changes, including kick-downs, are O.K.1969, The Motor - Volume 135, page 73. From the entry kick-down
  • Full spinal flexion results; the perineum is brought into a downward facing position underwrapped by the tail.1961, Behavior - Volumes 18-19, page 12. From the entry underwrap
  • If it is too far back he can't get as sharp a downward angle or sideline cut.1959 September, “Volleyball is a Rugged Game”, in Boys' Life, volume 49, number 9, page 56. From the entry sideline cut
  • He it is who sends the (in-coming) Prana (life-breath) upward and throws the (out-going) breath downward.1919, Swami Paramananda, transl., The Upanishads. From the entry prana
  • Italy, which lifted the trophy for the fourth time in Berlin two decades ago, has been spiraling downward ever since.2026 June 21, John Powers, “The World Cup group stage was supposed to be a feeding frenzy. So far, not so much.”, in The Boston Globe…. From the entry cleat
  • Flick your wrist at an angle while softly pressing the mouse button downward to perform a drag click.2022 August 22, “Top 3 Clicking Methods To Improve Mouse Clicking Speed”, in Deccan Herald, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023. From the entry drag click
  • He hoped I would avoid the downward spiral into thick-rouged drag-queendom he had seen take the lives of several other homosexuals.2014, Jim Tushinski, Jim Van Buskirk, Identity Envy Wanting to Be Who We're Not. From the entry drag-queendom
  • The markets are in meltdown, intensifying the downward pirouette of what the international financier George Soros has called "Greece's death spiral".2010 April 28, Malcolm Brabrant, “Greece's ‘death spiral’”, in BBC News, retrieved 14 Sep 2011. From the entry death spiral
  • It seems hard to suppose that the collisions and reboundings of the atoms cancel out the downward movement of everything entirely.1996, R. W. Sharples, Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics, page 138. From the entry rebounding
  • There is no downward flexibility in expenditure and credit levels.1974, Seshadriyengar Lakshmi Nara Simha, Inflation in India, page 77. From the entry downflex
  • The lower portion of this aerotropic root-branch bears numerous laterals which grow downward, in a positively geotropic direction.1972, Excerpta botanica: Taxonomica et chorologica. Sectio A. From the entry aerotropic
  • Finish in kneel on right, left leg pointed front; sit back on right heel, frontbend—arms downward to low rear.1965, Gymnastics Guide (Sports library for girls and women), Division for Girls and Women's Sports, American Association for Health…. From the entry frontbend
  • Plunge into the dust-moted rough blackness of his hair, smooth back downward over the deep-brown nape of his neck.1964, K. B. Gilden, Hurry Sundown. From the entry palp
  • In contemporary imagery, it is the view of an airplane passenger looking serenely downward from miles above the ground.1964, John Alexander Mackay, Ecumenics: the science of the church universal, page 140. From the entry frog's view
  • I am, of course, excluding the hypostasis produced by his having lain a whole week face downward in the cellar.1937, Dorothy L. Sayers, Busman's Honeymoon. From the entry hypostasis

Meaning of downward

  1. adverb Toward a lower level, whether in physical space, in a hierarchy, or in amount or value.
  2. adverb At a lower level.
  3. adverb Southward.

Full definition of downward

Questions about downward in a sentence

How do you use downward in a sentence?
Downward is used as an adverb and adjective. For example: “His position in society moved ever downward.”
What is a short sentence with downward?
“He spoke with a downward glance.”
What does downward mean?
Downward means toward a lower level, whether in physical space, in a hierarchy, or in amount or value.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: downward (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use downward in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/downward. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.