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/dˈaʊnfˌɔl/ Listen

noun

Downfall n.

A sudden fall; a body of things falling. "Those cataracts or downfalls aforesaid." "Each downfall of a flood the mountains pour."

A sudden descent from rank or state, reputation or happiness; destruction; ruin; as, the senator's unrestrained sexual escapades led to his downfall. "Dire were the consequences which would follow the downfall of so important a place."

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Etymology of 'Downfall'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Downfall" Quotes from Famous Books

... had encouraged the chaplain to persevere, by exclaiming, "out of all question, my dear sir"—though he was absolutely ignorant that the other had just advanced a downright scientific heresy. At this critical moment a cry from Little Smash, that almost equalled a downfall of crockery in its clamour, drew ...

— Wyandotte • James Fenimore Cooper

... bear. But he is "true to himself" in the best meaning of that saying, rising above those who would pull him down, and, in the end, not only succeeds in making a place for himself in the world, but also scores a worthy triumph over those who had caused his parents' downfall. ...

— True to Himself • Edward Stratemeyer

... natural associate, began to appear. This was the only public good the Reformation did; for with respect to religious good it might as well not have taken place. The mythology still continued the same; and the multiplicity of national popes grew out of the downfall ...

— The Worlds Greatest Books, Volume XIII. - Religion and Philosophy • Various

... attributed her lack of success to the fact that she had had no one to second her. It was strange that Elmer Moffatt, a shiftless out-cast from even the small world she despised, should give her, in the very moment of his downfall, the sense of being able to succeed where she had failed. It was a feeling she never had in his absence, but that his nearness always instantly revived; and he seemed nearer to her now than he had ever been. They wandered on to the edge of the vague park, and sat down ...

— The Custom of the Country • Edith Wharton

... a crowd gathered around Castle Lone. But they came not as festive guests but as a flock of vultures around a carcass, bent on prey. For the last time artists and reporters came not to illustrate the triumphs, but to record the downfall of the great ducal house of Scott-Hereward; to make sketches, take photographs and write descriptions of the magnificent and splendid halls and chambers, picture-galleries and museums, before they should be dismantled by the rapacious ...

— The Lost Lady of Lone • E.D.E.N. Southworth

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