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Meaning & use

downhill slope

noun·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˌdaʊn.hɪl ˈsləʊp/
US/ˌdaʊn.hɪl ˈsloʊp/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    A piece of ground that slants downward, so that you go lower as you move along it.

    Grammar: Countable: use a/an or a plural — a downhill slope, steep downhill slopes.

    Patterns

    • a steep downhill slope
    • go down a downhill slope
    • on a downhill slope

    The last part of the race is a steep downhill slope.

    We walked slowly down the downhill slope so we would not slip.

    Their house sits at the bottom of a long downhill slope.

  2. nounsingularfigurative

    A situation that is getting steadily worse or less successful.

    Grammar: Usually singular and figurative, often in the phrase 'on a downhill slope'.

    Patterns

    • on a downhill slope
    • start on a downhill slope

    After the bad sales figures, the company seemed to be on a downhill slope.

    His health has been on a downhill slope since the winter.

Word forms

pluraldownhill slopes

Common combinations

a steep downhill slope
Cyclists love the steep downhill slope near the coast.
a gentle downhill slope
The path becomes a gentle downhill slope after the bridge.
go down a downhill slope
The children went down the downhill slope on their bikes.
on a downhill slope
The business has been on a downhill slope for two years.
a long downhill slope
There is a long downhill slope into the valley.

Synonyms and how they differ

descent
More formal and often means the act of going down rather than the ground itself; use 'descent' for the journey, 'downhill slope' for the surface.
decline
Used for the figurative sense of getting worse, but 'decline' is more neutral and formal than 'downhill slope'.
gradient
A technical term for how steep a slope is, not the slope itself; engineers talk about gradients.

Opposites

uphill slopeincline

Word family

downhill adverb
Toward the bottom of a hill: 'The road goes downhill.'
slope noun
Any surface that is not level, going up or down.
sloping adjective
Leaning or slanting rather than flat: 'a sloping roof.'

Commonly confused: downhill slope or downhill? downhill slope or hill?

downhill slope vs downhill

'Downhill' alone is usually an adverb or adjective meaning 'toward the bottom'; add 'slope' when you mean the actual piece of ground.

downhill slope vs hill

A hill is a raised area of land; a slope is only the leaning side of it, and a downhill slope is the side you go down.

Practice

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