How to Use downcast in a Sentence

downcast

adjective
  • There were a lot of downcast faces in the crowd.
  • At a glance, the saint’s eyes seem to be sightless or downcast.
    — New York Times, 11 July 2019
  • Her hair was cropped just above the shoulder, and her eyes were downcast.
    — Madeleine Watts, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022
  • The first boy shuffled across the tile floor with his arms crossed and eyes downcast.
    — NBC News, 29 Oct. 2019
  • The few lights are dim and downcast to protect our night vision.
    — Sallie Tisdale, Harper's Magazine, 24 Nov. 2020
  • At what should be a time of celebration for the tribe, the group was downcast.
    — Christina Tkacik, Washington Post, 12 Feb. 2018
  • Her downcast eyes, that clutch of her shawl, strongly suggested both those things.
    — The Economist, 17 May 2018
  • Unlike his cousin, who keeps his eyes downcast, Emmett can’t help but look right at her.
    — Robert Daniels, Time, 14 Oct. 2022
  • The bust on Mount Tabor depicts him as bald, with downcast eyes.
    — oregonlive, 21 Feb. 2021
  • Ari sits alone on a colorful rug under the chalkboard near the front of the room, his large light brown eyes downcast.
    — Olivia Krauth, The Courier-Journal, 16 Dec. 2019
  • Unlike the rest of the figures on the canvas his expression is downcast.
    — Los Angeles Times, 28 Aug. 2019
  • The labels for the show are on the floor, prompting viewers to take the same downcast stance as the hooded figure.
    — Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Jan. 2022
  • Osnos hits on the above truth, but does so in typically downcast fashion.
    — John Tamny, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2021
  • In court on Tuesday, Tony Hernández looked pale and downcast.
    — Fox News, 31 Mar. 2021
  • In court on Tuesday, Tony Hernández looked pale and downcast.
    — Larry Neumeister and Claudia Torrens, Star Tribune, 30 Mar. 2021
  • The boys shuffled past, eyes downcast, mumbling something about being sorry for her loss.
    — Andrew Solomon, The New Yorker, 4 Apr. 2022
  • Instead the flashes seared on Dodgers’ fans memories will be of downcast heads and slow trudges off the field.
    — Stephanie Apstein, SI.com, 2 Nov. 2017
  • What counted was in part how the morning’s overcast threatened to leave us a bit downcast for the remainder of the day.
    — Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2021
  • Behind her stand other wenches, their eyes downcast and pleading, their waists tied to one another with a leather strap.
    — The Economist, 15 Mar. 2018
  • Still, her audience here on Friday seemed more inspired by her resilience than downcast over her loss.
    — Jess Bidgood and Katharine Q. Seelye, New York Times, 26 May 2017
  • Rachel, eyes downcast, lips pouted, sheepishly returned the spoon and goblet.
    — Washington Post, 5 Dec. 2019
  • The younger woman sits still, eyes downcast, holding a hesitant hand to her stinging cheek as if in disbelief.
    — The Economist, 30 Sep. 2017
  • This was another test of the Phillies’ emergency downcast system.
    — Bob Brookover, Philly.com, 10 May 2018
  • That didn't ease the pain obvious on the faces of players in a downcast locker room but offered promise too hard to come by in the Fox era.
    — David Haugh, chicagotribune.com, 11 Sep. 2017
  • The end result was a rather downcast orchestral ballad that director Sam Mendes couldn’t find a way to use.
    — Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2021
  • The downcast melody brings to mind the early, fragile work of his contemporary Elliott Smith.
    — Mark Richardson, WSJ, 28 Nov. 2018
  • My name for Kostya was Eyeore, after the downcast mule in Winnie-the-Pooh.
    — Sam Patten, WIRED, 14 Aug. 2019
  • As death sets in, Jesus’ outstretched arms and downcast face are turning blue; little streams of blood flow naturally around his toes from the nails in his feet.
    — Judith H. Dobrzynski, WSJ, 3 July 2018
  • By contrast, Emilia, in her mid-thirties, has a face that lights up with sunny enthusiasm and, just as quickly, turns downcast.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 May 2026
  • Speaking of avatars of alienation, K moves through his days with the unhurried shuffle and downcast baby blues of Ryan Gosling.
    — A. O. Scott, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'downcast.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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