downfall

Meanings

1. 1nounusually singular

   The loss of someone's or something's success, power or position, often happening quickly.

   Grammar: Often takes a possessive: the company's downfall, his downfall.

   Patterns

   • the downfall of someone
   • lead to someone's downfall

   The scandal led to the mayor's downfall within a week.

   Historians still debate the causes of the empire's downfall.

   Years of overspending brought about the club's downfall.

2. 2nounsingular

   The thing that causes someone to fail or lose their position.

   Grammar: Often follows be: greed was his downfall.

   Patterns

   • be someone's downfall

   Gambling was his downfall, and he lost his house.

   Her stubborn pride proved to be her downfall.

   Overconfidence was the team's downfall in the final.

Word forms

Common combinations

be someone's downfall

Impatience was her downfall during the negotiations.

lead to the downfall of

Corruption led to the downfall of the regime.

cause someone's downfall

One careless email caused his downfall.

precipitate a downfall

The sudden scandal precipitated the downfall of the chairman.

sudden downfall

The star's sudden downfall shocked her fans.

Synonyms and how they differ

ruin

Ruin stresses total destruction of fortune or reputation, while downfall focuses on the drop from a high position.

collapse

Collapse suggests a structure or system giving way abruptly, whereas downfall often implies a person or ruler losing standing.

undoing

Undoing is used almost only for the cause of someone's failure and is slightly more literary than downfall.

Opposites

Word family

fall noun

the loss of power or standing

fall verb

to lose power or position

downfallen adjective

a rare literary word for fallen from power

Commonly confused: downfall or downturn?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “downfall”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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