downhill

[ adverb adjective doun-hil; noun doun-hil ]

adverb

1. down the slope of a hill; downward.
2. into a worse or inferior condition:

   The business has been going downhill.

adjective

1. going or tending downward on or as on a hill.
2. free of problems or obstacles; easy:

   After the initial setbacks on the project, it was downhill all the way.

3. of or relating to skiing downhill.

noun

1. a timed ski race on a steep slope in which competitors take the most direct route to the finish line following a course with relatively few turns and attaining very high speeds.

downhill

/ ˈdaʊnˈhɪl /

adjective

1. going or sloping down

adverb

1. towards the bottom of a hill; downwards
2. go downhill informal.
   to decline; deteriorate

noun

1. the downward slope of a hill; descent
2. a competitive event in which skiers are timed in a downhill run

Word History and Origins

Origin of downhill¹

First recorded in 1585–95; down ¹ + hill

Example Sentences

“And hopefully, when people review the show and all the different seasons, they're not going to think, ‘Oh, God, this went downhill,’ or ‘This isn't as good as it used to be.’

From Salon

“When making this series, I constantly asked myself ‘do we humans have what it takes to steer the world off this downhill path?’.

From BBC

It was all downhill from there for the A’s, who were defeated in five games in one of the biggest upsets in baseball history.

From Los Angeles Times

As it flows downhill, the air is compressed due to the higher weight of the atmospheric column above it.

From Los Angeles Times

Now, the guns were powered only by gravity, which sent water rushing downhill from the 500,000-gallon reservoirs and out the guns’ nozzles.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• falling