downfall
/ˈdaʊnfɔːl/noun, verb
downfall is spelled D-O-W-N-F-A-L-L: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, downfall means “A precipitous decline in fortune; death or rapid deterioration, as in status or wealth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of downfall is downfalls.
How many letters and syllables are in downfall?
| Letters | 8: D-O-W-N-F-A-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 14,106th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is downfall?
Downfall appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 14,106th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce downfall?
- /ˈdaʊnfɔːl/
As a verb (“To fall down; deteriorate; decline”): /ˈdaʊnfɔːl/, /daʊnˈfɔːl/.
Downfall has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-downfall.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-downfall_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of downfall
- downfalls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- downfalling participle, present
- downfell past
- downfallen participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does downfall mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A precipitous decline in fortune; death or 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.
Orson Scott Card It is the downfall of evil, that it never sees far enough ahead.
- 3
An act of falling down.
a downfall of rain
verb
- 1
To fall down; deteriorate; decline.
It should be noted that the magnitude of satellites decreases when tuning out of degeneracy, and in the wavelength range of 1.2-1.3 pm it downfalls to the value of 10-15% of the main spike magnitude.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Downfall in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chute |
| German | Niedergang, Untergang, Verfall , Ruin |
| Portuguese | ruína, queda |
| Spanish | ocaso, decaimiento, decadencia, caída , perdición |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does downfall come from?
From down- + fall. In this spelling, from 16th century; spelled as two words from 13th century.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).