1
as in bowed
directed down her downcast gaze made us realize that she was shy

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2
as in depressed
feeling unhappiness I'm always a little downcast on rainy days

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of downcast She’s a housewife, always a bit downcast, or least quiet and reserved. Ben Croll, Variety, 16 Jan. 2023 In one video, irate workers surrounded a silent, downcast manager in a conference room to voice grievances and question their Covid test results. Fortune, 23 Nov. 2022 In one video, irate workers surrounded a silent, downcast manager in a conference room to voice grievances and question their COVID test results. BostonGlobe.com, 23 Nov. 2022 There also is an approach that has proven uplifting during this somewhat downcast time for the Heat. Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 23 Nov. 2022 See All Example Sentences for downcast
Recent Examples of Synonyms for downcast
Adjective
  • No racist stereotypes, no demeaning facial expressions, no bowed heads, and no broken bodies from the old Hollywood.
    David Faris, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 July 2025
  • The composer also added synths to his orchestral score, as well as bowed metal, where a violin bow is rubbed against metal instruments like a cowbell or a Vibraphone, for when Roz has a particularly intense feeling.
    Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • That view shifted Wednesday, with our double upgrade back to our buy-equivalent 1 rating after CEO David Ricks and several other company insiders bought lots of shares of the depressed stock.
    Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 14 Aug. 2025
  • Once rich and chubby and depressed, Johnson is now, at forty-seven, rich and ripped and determined to live forever.
    Tad Friend, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • The Golden State's slowing job market mirrored the national economy, which saw 73,000 jobs added in July, lower than monthly job gains earlier this year and the downward revisions for May and June.
    Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Aug. 2025
  • Swiss watch exports dropped 5.6 percent in June, continuing a year-long downward trajectory.
    Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 15 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • How long is unknown, but with the season winding down and every game increasing in importance, any game off for Tucker is a sad statement on how far his stock has dropped in the last month.
    Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2025
  • But the film’s precise, funny characters and vivid, sweltering look would have meant nothing without Lee’s wise and ultimately sad vision of multicultural America as a place where good intentions and casual mistrust are as commonplace as the local pizzeria.
    Tim Grierson, Vulture, 16 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • As with almost any change, some residents were unhappy, mostly about being told to slow down.
    Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2025
  • President Donald Trump was unhappy with July’s U.S. jobs report, which showed hiring slowing (with 73,000 jobs added, compared to 100,000 predicted) and revised past months’ numbers.
    Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • While the feline escaped unscathed, Lex admitted the incident left her heartbroken.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Aug. 2025
  • That’s not to say Moore wasn’t heartbroken or incredibly stressed out during the wildfires.
    Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • Daphne, miserable at boarding school; Bea, unhappy at home.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 7 Aug. 2025
  • For years, parents faced a choice between exposing their kids to unknown dangers on social-media platforms or fighting a constant battle that would leave their kids isolated and miserable.
    Charlotte Alter, Time, 4 Aug. 2025
Adjective
  • But the overriding feeling of the work is melancholy.
    Hugh Morris, New York Times, 25 July 2025
  • Anna, an American student at Harvard, falls deeply and unaccountably in love with Christoph, who is on exchange from Germany, in this melancholy début novel.
    The New Yorker, New Yorker, 21 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Downcast.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/downcast. Accessed 23 Aug. 2025.

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