Word.ws English Dictionary

went down like a lead balloon

went down like a lead balloon is the simple past of go down like a lead balloon.

Meaning of go down like a lead balloon

Verb

go down like a lead balloon (third-person singular simple present goes down like a lead balloon, present participle going down like a lead balloon, simple past went down like a lead balloon, past participle gone down like a lead balloon)

  1. (simile) To be received negatively by others.
    • I thought my idea of a superhero-themed party was a great idea, but it went down like a lead balloon with my friends.

Questions about went down like a lead balloon

What is went down like a lead balloon the simple past of?
Went down like a lead balloon is the simple past of go down like a lead balloon.

Words near went down like a lead balloon in the dictionary

  1. went down fighting
  2. went down in flames
  3. went down in history
  4. went down like a cup of cold sick
  5. went down like a cup of sick
  6. went down like a lead balloon
  7. went down like a lead zeppelin
  8. went down like a sack of potatoes
  9. went down on
  10. went down south
  11. went down swinging

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: went down like a lead balloon (page history and authors); go down like a lead balloon (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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