downturn

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UK/ˈdaʊntɜːn/Canada, US/ˈdaʊntɝn/Australia/ˈdæɔntɜːn/

noun

A downward trend, or the beginnings of one.

“Near-synonym: decline”

Less commonScrabble 12

Meanings

noundownturn (plural downturns)

plural downturns

  1. 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 20

    In 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 39

    Synonyms: decline · Antonyms: upturn, uptick, increase, improvement

verbdownturn (third-person singular simple present downturns, present participle downturning, simple past and past participle downturned)

present singular third person downturns · participle present downturning · participle past downturned · past downturned

  1. intransitiveTo turn downwards.
  2. idiomaticintransitiveTo decline.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA downward trend, or the beginnings of one.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nouna worsening of business or economic activity

Similar
Broader
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Englishdown-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*terh₁-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*tórh₁nos
  4. Proto-Hellenic*tórnos
  5. Ancient Greekτόρνος (tórnos)
  6. Latintornus
  7. Latintornō
  8. Proto-West Germanic*turnēn
  9. Old Englishturnian
  10. Latintornō
  11. Old Frenchtorner
  12. Middle Englishturnen
  13. Englishturn
  14. Englishdownturn

From down- + turn.

Full word history & related roots →

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
APA

downturn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downturn

MLA

“downturn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downturn. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “downturn,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downturn.

Source: downturn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.