downbeat Hear it!

downbeat Definition

down·beat (do̵unbēt′)

noun

  1. a downward trend; downswing
  2. Music
    1. the downward stroke of the conductor's hand or baton indicating the first beat of each measure
    2. such a beat

adjective

Informal grimly realistic; depressing
downbeat Usage Examples

Preposition: about

  • prospect: Significantly, none of the manufacturers interviewed were downbeat about prospects.

Converse of object

  • give: It's seven o'clock sharp and the conductor gives the downbeat for the brass band to begin.
  • call: The absences that you've been training yourself to recognize fall on the rhythmic counterparts of the backbeats, called the downbeats.

Modifies a noun

  • ending: They wanted to revoke the director's final cut privileges and insert a happier ending instead of Gilliam's decidedly downbeat ending.
  • conclusion: Congrats to Bido for following his refreshingly bleak premise to a fatal, downbeat conclusion!
  • tone: Picture: The downbeat, depressing tone of the series is reflected in the feel of the ' Black Books ' bookstore.
  • song: The first CD leans more toward the cynical, more downbeat songs, which was partly my original aim.
  • note: A rather downbeat note on which to end a novel.
  • view: The management, in turn, are likely to give a downbeat view of future business prospects.

Modifying Another Word

  • somewhat: The bouncy, uplifting feel of the music for this song belies the somewhat downbeat lyrical content.
  • rather: Despite its rather downbeat image AA caters for all classes of society.
  • too: He concluded, however, that they were just too downbeat to be of any practical use.
  • very: Most of the tracks have a blues feeling to them each very downbeat.
  • decidedly: But things look decidedly downbeat if you are a signal engineer with a mission to put right the degradation.
  • surprisingly: But it was a surprisingly downbeat evening, rather than a celebratory one.

Used with adjective complement

  • sound: It may sound downbeat, but judging from the sample chapter nothing is further from the truth.
  • look: Interviews over, Sergeant reflects that Prescott is looking very downbeat for a winner.