downcast
/ˈdaʊnkɑːst/
"downcast" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“downcast” is an uncommon English word, ranked #59,356 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #59,356
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of the eyes, a facial expression, etc.: looking downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | downcast |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈdaʊnkɑːst/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #59,356 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “downcast” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for downcast is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdaʊnkɑːst/. Corpus data places it at rank #59,356 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for downcast, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is derived from Middle English doun-casten, *adoun-casten (“(adjective) cast down, dejected; (verb) to break down (something); to overcome (someone); to overturn (something)”), from down (“in a downward direction; (figurative) to destruction”)… The correct English form is downcast, spelled D-O-W-N-C-A-S-T.
Definition
- 1Of the eyes, a facial expression, etc.: looking downwards, usually as a sign of discouragement, sadness, etc., or sometimes modesty.
- 2Of a person or thing: cast or thrown to the ground.
- 3Of a thing: directed downwards.
- 4Of a person: feeling despondent or discouraged.
- 5Of a person or thing: defeated, overthrown; also, destroyed, ruined.
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Middle English doun-casten, *adoun-casten (“(adjective) cast down, dejected; (verb) to break down (something); to overcome (someone); to overturn (something)”), from down (“in a downward direction; (figurative) to destruction”), adoun (“downward”) + casten (“to throw (something), fling, hurl; to overcome (someone), defeat, overpower; [etc.]”) (from Old Norse kasta (“to cast, throw”), from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw”), from *kas- (“to throw, toss; to bring up”); further etymology uncertain), modelled similarly to other constructions in Middle English such as adoun-throwen (“to throw down”) and adoun-werpen (“to throw down”)). The English word is analysable as down- (prefix meaning ‘lower direction or position’) + cast (“that has been thrown”, adjective). The noun is derived from the adjective.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “downcast”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-O-W-N-C-A-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdaʊnkɑːst/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.