Basic Details
Word: Downfall
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A sudden loss of power, money or success, or the thing that causes that loss.
Synonyms: ruin, collapse, fall, undoing
Antonyms: rise, success, triumph
How to Spell Downfall
Syllables: down - fall
Tricky part: It is one closed word, down + fall, and fall keeps its double l. Students drop an l or split it into two words.
Watch out for: downfal, dounfall, downfaul
Memory tip: Think of a king tumbling down the palace steps: first comes down, then fall, and the fall is so heavy it needs two l's.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Greed was the downfall of the king in the story.
Example 2: Overconfidence proved to be the team's downfall in the semi-final.
Example 3: Careless spending led to the downfall of the once-rich family.
Fun Fact
Downfall belongs to a set of compounds that put down in front, such as downpour, downturn and download; download is the youngest of them, born in the computer age.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Only one of these compound words is spelt correctly. Choose it:
a) downfall
b) landslyde
c) shipwreak
d) earthqauke
Show answer
a) downfall. Down and fall are both kept whole, while the others should read landslide, earthquake and shipwreck.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word downfall as used in the sentence:
The scandal over the missing grain led to the minister's downfall within a month.
a) collapse
b) undoing
c) ruin
d) rise
Show answer
d) rise. Ruin, collapse and undoing all mean the same as downfall; a rise is a climb to power.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Many historians agree that the downfal of the Mughal empire began soon after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707.
a) death
b) empire
c) historians
d) downfal
Show answer
d) downfal. When fall joins down it keeps both of its l's.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If laziness was a player's downfall, laziness ____.
a) made him popular
b) kept him fit
c) helped him succeed
d) caused his failure
Show answer
d) caused his failure
2. Which word is closest in meaning to downfall?
a) collapse
b) promotion
c) comeback
d) reward
Show answer
a) collapse
