Meanings
plural downturns
- A downward trend, or the beginnings of one.
Near-synonym: decline
3 more examples
The downturn in the economy made it harder to find jobs.
Any [economic] downturn will eventually impact on rail freight, and indeed passenger traffic, so operators are watching this closely.
2019 October, Rail Freight Group, “Consequences of a no deal Brexit”, in Modern Railways, page 20In the 1950s, the downturn in BR's financial performance can be illustrated by its declining market share. Between 1951 and 1961, the railways' market share of passenger business fell from 21% to 14%, and for freight from 45% to 29%.
2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 39Synonyms: decline · Antonyms: upturn, uptick, increase, improvement
present singular third person downturns · participle present downturning · participle past downturned · past downturned
- idiomaticintransitiveTo decline.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA downward trend, or the beginnings of one.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Englishdown-
- Proto-Indo-European*terh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*tórh₁nos
- Proto-Hellenic*tórnos
- Ancient Greekτόρνος (tórnos)
- Latintornus
- Latintornō
- Proto-West Germanic*turnēn
- Old Englishturnian
- Latintornō
- Old Frenchtorner
- Middle Englishturnen
- Englishturn
- Englishdownturn
Translations
Catalan daltabaix
- daltabaixa downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Chinese Mandarin 衰退, 下降
- 衰退 (shuāituì)a downward trend, or the beginnings of one
- 下降 (xiàjiàng)a downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Finnish lasku, heikkeneminen
- laskua downward trend, or the beginnings of one
- heikkeneminena downward trend, or the beginnings of one
- taantumaa downward trend, or the beginnings of one
- laskusuhdannea downward trend, or the beginnings of one
French ralentissement, déclin
- ralentissementa downward trend, or the beginnings of one
- déclina downward trend, or the beginnings of one
German Abschwung, Rückgang
- Abschwunga downward trend, or the beginnings of one
- Rückganga downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Italian recessione, calo
- recessionea downward trend, or the beginnings of one
- caloa downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Japanese 下降
- 下降 (kakō)a downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Korean 하강
- 하강 (hagang)a downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Māori paheketanga, hurirapanga
- paheketangaa downward trend, or the beginnings of one
- hurirapangaa downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Portuguese declínio
- declínioa downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Russian спад
- спад (spad)a downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Spanish bajón
- bajóna downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Swedish nedgång
- nedgånga downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Ukrainian спад
- спад (spad)a downward trend, or the beginnings of one
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
downturn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downturn
“downturn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downturn. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “downturn,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downturn.
Source: downturn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.