fallen

American  

[faw-luhn] / ˈfɔ lən /

verb

1. past participle of fall.

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adjective

1. having dropped or come down from a higher place, from an upright position, or from a higher level, degree, amount, quality, value, number, etc.

2. on the ground; prostrate; down flat.

   Exhausted, the racers lay fallen by the road.

3. degraded or immoral.

4. (of a woman) having lost her chastity.

5. overthrown, destroyed, or conquered.

   a fallen city.

6. dead.

   fallen troops.

fallen British  

/ ˈfɔːlən /

verb

1. the past participle of fall

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adjective

1. having sunk in reputation or honour

   a fallen woman

2. killed in battle with glory

   our fallen heroes

3. defeated

Other Word Forms

• unfallen adjective

Etymology

Origin of fallen

First recorded before 900, for the adjective

Example Sentences

Gasoline stocks were expected to have fallen by 1.5 million barrels.

From The Wall Street Journal

Sales had fallen in three of the previous four months before rebounding in February.

From MarketWatch

“I’m the one that’s meant to show you what not to do in life and how to avoid the same mistakes that I’ve fallen for in my life.”

From Los Angeles Times

Before the conflict, interest rates set by the Bank of England - which underpin borrowing rates for homebuyers - had fallen over the course of last year and had been expected to fall further this year.

From BBC

Several household bills have gone up in April - although energy costs have fallen for now.

From BBC

Related Words

• collapsed
• decayed