go downhill

present singular third person goes downhill · participle present going downhill · past went downhill · participle past gone downhill

1. idiomaticTo worsen or degenerate.

   I usually run fast enough, but my speed goes downhill when I don't sleep enough.

   1 more example

   For many years, UK food had a terrible reputation. Then, in the 1990s, gastropubs brought new flavours, energy and ideas. When and why did it all start to go downhill again?

   2025 August 5, Steve Rose, “‘A yorkshire pudding like a dishcloth’: how did British pub food get so grim?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: go to pot, go to the dogs, go to shit, go pear-shaped