How to Use downer in a Sentence

downer

noun
  • I took some downers to help me sleep.
  • Our conversation about death was a bit of a downer.
  • In short, Bart’s kind of a downer.
    — Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 16 Feb. 2026
  • That’s not to say that this album is a downer, by any means.
    — Simon Vozick-Levinson, Rolling Stone, 22 May 2026
  • The last week or two before the game were a downer for me at the plate.
    — Steve Millar, Daily Southtown, 14 July 2018
  • Of course, the downer is that the schedule gets much tougher down the stretch.
    — J.p. Pelzman, Forbes, 13 May 2021
  • Then again, slip dresses, knit shrugs, and bare legs are even more of a downer.
    — Maria Ward, Vogue, 20 Dec. 2017
  • Was this one too much of a downer to make the cut for Fearless?
    — TIME, 25 Oct. 2023
  • Okay, not to be a downer… But what about falling out of love?
    — Women's Health, 4 May 2023
  • That could be a big downer for Packers fans, who can be a thirsty bunch.
    — John Meyer, The Denver Post, 3 July 2019
  • The line comes from the sixth scene of act two of William’s iconic downer.
    — Ashley Hoffman, Time, 18 Apr. 2018
  • But Sweet Country was a downer of a film.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 12 Feb. 2026
  • This can make my time in the outdoors a bit of a bummer or even a real downer.
    — Blair Braverman, Outside Online, 14 Oct. 2021
  • Its story, like those of most animals on the list, was a downer.
    — Darryl Fears, Washington Post, 21 Apr. 2018
  • Is that a downer or just being a realist?
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 10 Mar. 2026
  • Sounds like a double-whammy downer.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
  • Sorry to sound like a downer, but this is just the reality of life.
    — Sophie Saint Thomas, Allure, 5 Sep. 2021
  • After that, the game could have been a downer, but Ransom raised the roof on the creaky old gym.
    — Sam Whiting, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Feb. 2022
  • Angel is a low-energy downer who doesn’t seem suited to this line of work.
    — Brian Moylan, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2025
  • For decades, grill masters — and chow-downers of their work — have sworn that steaks taste better bone-in than bone-out.
    — Bill St. John, The Denver Post, 10 July 2019
  • Shifting trends on Wall Street have also been a downer on oil prices.
    — Krystal Hur, CNN, 30 June 2023
  • But the last panel of issue #3 is a quiet downer that will stick with you -- in a good way.
    — Will Nevin, OregonLive.com, 15 May 2018
  • April was a downer; May brought optimism; June was a slow start.
    — Dallas News, 11 June 2022
  • Samuel ended his first half on a downer, fumbling with 10 seconds left in the red zone.
    — Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 8 Sep. 2019
  • There have been positives in Texas' 6-3 start, but this was a downer.
    — Cedric Golden, Austin American Statesman, 5 Dec. 2025
  • Maybe not on Christmas Eve per se, or your first visit home in a while—that could be a downer.
    — Margareta Magnusson, Time, 19 Dec. 2022
  • However that’s not to say that None of This Rocks is a downer.
    — Jonah Bayer, SPIN, 12 Sep. 2022
  • But no one should regret that the final LP was streamlined to be more of a downer.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Oct. 2025
  • And while all that sounds like a downer, the researchers found Gen Z to be rather optimistic.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, WWD, 11 Mar. 2025
  • Since insurance is the best form of asset protection found anywhere, this can be a downer.
    — Jay Adkisson, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026

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

Last Updated: