downfallen
English
editEtymology
editFrom downfall (“to fall down, decline”).
Adjective
editdownfallen
- Fallen down.
- (figurative) Having undergone a defeat, or been ousted from a position of authority.
- 1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 266:
- But one or two, who nourished in their bosoms respect for the downfallen hierarchy—casting first a timorous glance around, to see that no one observed them—hastily crossed themselves—bent their knee to sister Magdalen, by which name they saluted her—kissed her hand, or even the hem of her dalmatique—received with humility the Benedicite with which she repaid their obeisance; […]
- Crestfallen, depressed, down in the dumps.
Verb
editdownfallen
- past participle of downfall.