comedown

See also: come down and come-down

English

Alternative forms

• come-down

Etymology

Deverbal from come down.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

comedown (plural comedowns)

1. A sudden drop to a lower status, condition or level; a disappointment or letdown.

   Coordinate term: downgrade (noun)

   • 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter XXVIII, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], →OCLC:

     He had two subjects of conversation, the shame and come-down of being a tramp, and the best way of getting a free meal.

   • 2000, Thomas à Kempis, “[The Sacrament of the Altar: How to Prepare for It & What It Tastes Like] Frequency”, in William Griffin, transl., The Imitation of Christ: How Jesus Wants Us to Live […] A Contemporary Version, HarperSanFrancisco, →ISBN, page 238:

     I have to say it again, my Dearest Friend. What a wonderful Comedown for the Godhead! What a wonderful Comeuppance for Humankind! That’s because You, Lord God, Creator, Bellows Maker of All That Breathes, deigned to come to my hovel of a soul; once there, to fatten up the leanness of my soul with the plumpitude of Your Sacrament; that’s to say, with the plenitude of Your Divinity and Humanity.

   • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 5, in The Line of Beauty […], 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

     “So how are you getting on at UCL?” said Penny kindly, as if it must be a sorry comedown after Oxford.

2. A calm, mellow period experienced after the initial high from taking drugs.

Translations

to lower status, condition or level

• Danish: nedsættelse c, fald n
• Russian: паде́ние (ru) n (padénije)

after a drug — see crash

See also

• crash
• degradation
• mellowed out

 

Anagrams

• downcome