downside
/ˈdaʊnˌsaɪd/noun
downside is spelled D-O-W-N-S-I-D-E: 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, downside means “A disadvantageous aspect of something that is normally advantageous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of downside is downsides.
How many letters and syllables are in downside?
| Letters | 8: D-O-W-N-S-I-D-E |
|---|---|
| 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 downside?
Downside 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 downside?
- /ˈdaʊnˌsaɪd/
Downside 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: En-us-downside.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of downside
- downsides plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does downside mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A disadvantageous aspect of something that is normally advantageous.
The downside of obtaining a higher rank is that far more work is expected.
- 2
A downward tendency, especially in the price of shares etc.
- 3
The side of something that is at the bottom, or that is intended to face downward.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Downside in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Kehrseite, Nachteil, Schattenseite , Abwärtsbewegung, Abwärtstrend, Abschwächung |
| Spanish | inconveniente |
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 downside come from?
Compound of down + side.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).