fallaway

1 of 2

adjective

fall·​away ˈfȯl-ə-ˌwā How to pronounce fallaway (audio)
: made while moving away from the basket in basketball
a fallaway jump shot
fallaway noun

fall away

2 of 2

verb

fell away; fallen away; falling away; falls away

intransitive verb

1
a
: to withdraw friendship or support
b
: to renounce one's faith
2
a
: to diminish gradually in size
b
: to drift off a course

Examples of fallaway in a Sentence

Verb as the years went by, the public's interest in the murder case fell away
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adjective
Smith drained a fallaway three-pointer from 25 feet with time running out to give Purdue a 38-32 lead heading to the locker room. Steve Galluzzo, Los Angeles Times, 18 Jan. 2026 His fallaway, one-legged jumper at 6-11 is impossible to defend. Bryce Miller, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 May 2023
Verb
While the service module falls away to burn up on re-entry over the Pacific, Orion’s crew module will begin its direct path at 400,000 feet altitude, about 1,900 miles shy of its splashdown site . Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 Apr. 2026 People are now seeing the vulnerability of a world that wasn’t really based on laws; it was based on norms of prosecutorial decision and discretion, and that’s sort of fallen away. ArsTechnica, 8 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fallaway

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1936, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1535, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of fallaway was in 1535

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Cite this Entry

“Fallaway.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fallaway. Accessed 18 Apr. 2026.

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