drag down

phrasal verb

dragged down; dragging down; drags down

: to force (someone) into a bad situation or condition

We cannot let our enemies drag us down to their level.

: to make (someone) unhappy

You can't let her bad moods drag you down.

: to make (something) lower in amount or quality

High energy costs are dragging down profits.

Examples of drag down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Emmett Till was lynched and dragged down that road. —

Steve Hochman, SPIN, 15 Apr. 2024 Sales fell a revised 1.1% in January, dragged down in part by inclement weather. —

Anne D'innocenzio, Fortune, 15 Apr. 2024 On the flip side, a team that is dysfunctional can drag down morale and efficiency, creating internal problems that take away from the work at hand. —

Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 15 Apr. 2024 Related article How much are wind turbines dragging down home values? —

Rachel Ramirez, CNN, 20 Mar. 2024 But with inconsistent wide receivers dragging down the offense, the Chiefs have turned to one of the NFL's best defenses. —

Dave Skretta, USA TODAY, 15 Jan. 2024 The duo had the most chemistry of all the night’s presenters, who too often seemed dragged down by stiff teleprompter dialogue. —

Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2024 Food prices and costs in restaurants and cafes helped to drag down the inflation rate, the ONS said. —

Tom Rees, Fortune Europe, 20 Mar. 2024 This eastern county, which includes Davenport, was another one to watch for whether Trump’s margin could be dragged down by anti-Trump voters in the suburbs. —

Bridget Bowman, NBC News, 16 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'drag down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.