downfall

1 failure that results in a loss of position or reputation [syn: ruin, ruination]

2 the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist) [syn: precipitation]

3 a sudden decline in strength or number or importance; "the fall of the House of Hapsburg" [syn: fall] [ant: rise]

English

Etymology

down + fall

Noun

1. A precipitous decline in fortune; a rapid deterioration, as in status or wealth.

   Many economic and political reasons led to the downfall of the Roman Empire.

2. The cause of such a fall; a critical blow or error.

   It is the downfall of evil, that it never sees far enough ahead. — Orson Scott Card

Synonyms

• italbrac precipitous decline in fortune: fall

Derived terms

• Operation Downfall

Related terms

• down-fallen, downfallen

Translations

Downfall may refer to:

• Operation Downfall, the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan at the end of World War II
• Downfall (film) (Der Untergang), 2004 German film about the last days of Adolf Hitler
• "Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire," is a 1999 book by Richard B. Frank about the last days of World War II
• The Downfall (novel), 1892 book by Émile Zola
• Downfall, a Dragonlance novel by Jean Rabe
• The Bionicle Legends 8th novel
• Downfall (game), a 2-player strategy game from Milton Bradley Company

In music

• Downfall (band), a Californian punk rock band
• "Downfall" (Children of Bodom song), a song by Children of Bodom on the album Hatebreeder
• "Downfall" (Matchbox Twenty song), a song by Matchbox Twenty on the album More Than You Think You Are
• "Downfall", a song by Trust Company on the album The Lonely Position of Neutral
• My Downfall (Original Soundtrack), a 2007 album by breakcore artist Venetian Snares
• Downfall (album), an album by Solitude Aeturnus

Waterloo, atrophy, bane, beating, bouleversement, brash, breakdown, burst of rain, cascade, cataract, chute, cloudburst, collapse, comedown, conquering, conquest, convulsion, crash, cropper, deathblow, debacle, decadence, declension, declination, decline, defeat, deflation, defluxion, degeneracy, degeneration, degradation, deluge, descending, descension, descent, destroyer, destruction, devolution, discomfiture, down, downbend, downcome, downcurve, downflow, downgrade, downpour, downrush, downtrend, downturn, downward trend, drencher, drop, dropping, drubbing, failure, fall, falling, flood, gravitation, gushing rain, headache, heavy rain, hiding, inclination, lambasting, lathering, licking, mastery, nose dive, overcoming, overthrow, overturn, plash, plummeting, pounce, pour, pratfall, problem, prostration, quietus, rainburst, rainspout, rainstorm, rapids, ruin, ruination, sabotage, scud, smash, soaker, soaking rain, spate, spout, stoop, stumble, subdual, subduing, subjugation, subversion, swoop, tailspin, thrashing, torrent of rain, trimming, trouble, trouncing, tumble, undoing, upheaval, upset, vanquishment, waterfall, waterspout, whipping