downer

Etymology

It is formed from English down + -er.^[2][3][4][5] The OED derives the noun from the adverb, Etymonline calls it an agent noun from the verb, and the Shorter Oxford takes the drug and depression senses from the verb or the adverb.^[2][4][5] In the phrase “have a downer on” Green's Dictionary of Slang and the Shorter Oxford derive it from the noun “down”, a grudge.^[6][5] The adverb is from Old English dūne, short for ofdūne (“downwards”), originally of dūne (“off the hill”), from dūn (“hill”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A knock-down blow: 1819, in Thomas Moore's Tom Crib's Memorial to Congress; this sense is obsolete, last recorded in 1889.^[2] Green's Dictionary of Slang records the underworld senses "a sleep" from 1846 and "a knock-out blow" from 1906.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The British colloquial phrase to have a downer on, to dislike or be ill-disposed towards, is recorded from 1866.^[2][6] From 1886, in a Texas newspaper, a downer was also a cow or other farm animal that has fallen and cannot rise, especially in downer cow;^[2][7] Merriam-Webster dates "one that downs", especially such an animal, to 1913.^[3] The drug sense, a barbiturate or other depressant, is recorded from 1966,^[2][4] as a counterpart of upper.^[3][2] From it came "a depressing person or thing" (1969), "a despondent mood", chiefly in on a downer (1970), and "a downward trend in business" (1976).^[2][4] Green's has an isolated record of "a depressing situation" in Hotten's slang dictionary of 1860, and then none until 1959.^[6] Dictionary.com marks the word as an Americanism.^[8]

Timeline

• 1819 – a knock-down blow (obsolete by 1889).^[2]
• 1846 – in underworld slang, a sleep.^[6]
• 1866 – to have a downer on, to dislike.^[2]
• 1886 – a farm animal unable to stand.^[2]
• 1966 – a depressant drug, especially a barbiturate.^[2][4]
• 1969 – a depressing person or thing.^[2] Etymonline dates the depressing person to 1970.^[4]
• 1970 – a state of depression, on a downer.^[2]
• 1976 – a downward trend in business or the economy.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (informal) A depressing or disappointing person, thing or experience: Missing the last train was a real downer.^[3][7][9][2]
2. (slang) A depressant or sedative drug, especially a barbiturate or tranquillizer.^[7][3][9][2]
3. (informal) A state of low spirits, chiefly in on a downer.^[2][6]
4. A cow or other farm animal that has fallen and cannot get up, through illness or injury.^[2][3][7][9]
5. (British, informal) have a downer on: to dislike or be prejudiced against.^[2][6]
6. A downward trend, especially in business or the economy.^[2]

Related words

• down
• upper

Usage notes

The adverb downer, further down, lower, has been used since about 1400,^[2] and in Scots downer was the comparative adjective "lower".^[10] The 19th-century slang downer, a sixpence and in America a nickel, is a separate word that Green's derives from Romani tawno (“a little one”).^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
7. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)