Standard Lemma guide

downhill

adj · adv · name · noun · verb · 16 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈdaʊnˌhɪl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪl
  • /ˌdaʊnˈhɪl/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D AW1 N HH IH1 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Located towards or at the bottom of a slope or hill.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Moraines are found at the downhill end of a glacier.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Going down a slope or a hill.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • This year's race is on a downhill course.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Easy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Examples

  • That's the hard part of the job done. From now on it's downhill all the way.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adv

Meaning 4

Down a slope.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Because we got to the summit of the mountain, we could only go downhill from there.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: downslope

Antonyms: none provided

5

adv

Meaning 5

So as to deteriorate or get worse.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly

Examples

  • After Don made those tasteless remarks, our relationship with him went downhill.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

name

Meaning 6

A coastal village and beach (Downhill Strand) in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

name

Meaning 7

A hamlet in St Eval parish, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SW8669).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

name

Meaning 8

A northern suburb of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England (OS grid ref NZ3559).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

The fastest of the disciplines of alpine skiing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

A rapid descent of a hill in related sports, especially in alpine skiing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

verb

Meaning 11

To take part in downhill skiing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

adjective satellite

Meaning 12

sloping down rather steeply

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: declivitous, downward-sloping

Antonyms: none provided

13

adverb

Meaning 13

toward the bottom of a hill

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • running downhill, he gained a lot of speed

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

adverb

Meaning 14

toward a lower or inferior state

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • your performance has been going downhill for a long time now

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

noun

Meaning 15

a ski race down a trail

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ski race, skiing race

16

noun

Meaning 16

the downward slope of a hill

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: descent, declivity, fall, decline, declination, declension, downslope

History

Etymology

From down- + hill.

Across languages

Translations

58 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: долен (dolen) — located down a slope
  • Finnish: alamäessä — located down a slope
  • Finnish: alhaalla — located down a slope
  • Georgian: დაღმართი (daɣmarti) — located down a slope
  • Ancient Greek: κατάντης (katántēs) — located down a slope
  • Latin: dēclīvis — located down a slope
  • Latin: prōclīvis — located down a slope
  • Norwegian: i en skråning — located down a slope
  • Tamil: சரிவில் (carivil) — located down a slope
  • Unami: pënaònke — located down a slope
  • Bulgarian: нанадолен (nanadolen) — going down a slope
  • Finnish: alamäkeen — going down a slope
  • Finnish: alas — going down a slope
  • Latin: dēclīvis — going down a slope
  • Latin: dēvexus — going down a slope
  • Norwegian: kjøre utfor — going down a slope
  • Russian: спуска́ющийся (spuskájuščijsja) — going down a slope
  • Tagalog: dalhak — going down a slope
  • Bulgarian: надо́лу (nadólu) — down a slope
  • Chinese Mandarin: 下坡 (xiàpō) — down a slope
  • Dutch: bergaf — down a slope
  • Esperanto: deklive — down a slope
  • Finnish: alamäkeä — down a slope
  • Finnish: alamäkeen — down a slope
  • Finnish: alamäessä — down a slope
  • Finnish: alas — down a slope
  • Finnish: alhaalla — down a slope
  • French: en aval — down a slope
  • Georgian: დაღმართი (daɣmarti) — down a slope
  • German: bergab — down a slope
  • Italian: in discesa — down a slope
  • Japanese: 下り坂 (kudarizaka) — down a slope
  • Latin: prōclīvī — down a slope
  • Māori: ki raro — down a slope
  • Plautdietsch: boajauf — down a slope
  • Polish: w dół — down a slope
  • Portuguese: ladeira abaixo — down a slope
  • Romanian: la vale — down a slope
  • Russian: по́д гору (pód goru) — down a slope
  • Russian: вниз (vniz) — down a slope
  • Serbo-Croatian: ни̏збрдо — down a slope
  • Serbo-Croatian: nȉzbrdo — down a slope
  • Spanish: cuesta abajo — down a slope
  • Tagalog: dalhak — down a slope
  • Yiddish: אַראָפּ־באַרג (arop-barg) — down a slope
  • Bulgarian: спускане (spuskane) — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Dutch: afdaling — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Estonian: kiirlaskumine — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Finnish: syöksylasku — discipline of alpine skiing
  • French: descente — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Georgian: სწრაფდაშვება (sc̣rapdašveba) — discipline of alpine skiing
  • German: Abfahrt — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Italian: discesa libera — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Norwegian: utfor — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Romanian: coborâre — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Spanish: descenso — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Spanish: prueba de descenso — discipline of alpine skiing
  • Swedish: störtlopp — discipline of alpine skiing
Real reading context

downhill in complete knowledge articles

Erdbeerkopf Science & nature · Accessible · 1 uses