Word · Frequency #11133
downfalls
衰败；垮台
downfalls is the plural of downfall.
a failure that causes someone to lose their position or reputation
- 1.
A precipitous decline in fortune; death or rapid deterioration, as in status or wealth.
命运的急剧下降；地位或财富的快速恶化或死亡
- 2.
failure that results in a loss of position or reputation
垮台；衰落
- 3.
The cause of such a fall; a critical blow or error.
导致这种下降的原因；关键打击或错误
- 4.
the falling to earth of any form of water (rain or snow or hail or sleet or mist)
水的降落(雨、雪、冰雹、雨夹雪或雾)
- 5.
An act of falling down.
跌倒的行为
- 6.
a sudden decline in strength or number or importance
力量、数量或重要性的突然下降
命运的急剧下降；地位或财富的快速恶化或死亡；垮台；衰落；导致这种下降的原因；关键打击或错误；水的降落(雨、雪、冰雹、雨夹雪或雾)；跌倒的行为
In use
His greed led to his downfall.
The team's poor communication proved to be their downfall.
She watched her competitor's downfall with a mix of pity and relief.
the downfall of [someone/something]
常指权力或地位的丧失。
The downfall of the empire was swift.
帝国的衰败来得很快。
be the downfall of [someone]
表示导致某人失败的原因。
Greed was his downfall.
贪婪是他的衰败之源。
a heavy downfall
指大雨或大雪。
We had a heavy downfall last night.
昨晚我们遭遇了一场大雨。
Connections
Collocations
- lead to someone's downfall
- 导致某人垮台
- His arrogance led to his downfall.他的傲慢导致了他垮台。
- spell the downfall of something
- 导致某事物的垮台
- The scandal spelled the downfall of the government.这起丑闻导致了政府的垮台。
- contribute to someone's downfall
- 促成某人的垮台
- Poor financial decisions contributed to her downfall.糟糕的财务决策促成了她的垮台。
- witness the downfall of someone
- 目睹某人的垮台
- The world witnessed the downfall of the emperor.全世界目睹了这位皇帝的垮台。
- bring about the downfall of someone
- 致使某人垮台
- The rebellion brought about the downfall of the king.叛乱导致了国王的垮台。
Learner notes
Memory Tip
把 down（向下）和 fall（跌落）连起来：想象一个权贵从高位一路下跌，彻底垮台。记住“倒下去”就是 downfall。
Context & Register
语域：neutral 常见场景：news reporting、historical analysis、political commentary 该词表示“衰败、垮台”时属于中性词，通常用于正式或半正式场合，如新闻、历史或政治评论中；日常口语中也会出现，但不如书面语常见。
Pronunciation & Spelling
All listed words share the same spelling ending -fall and the final pronunciation /fɔːl/, but they have primary stress on the first syllable, so they are ending matches rather than perfect rhymes with 'downfall'. Note that 'fall' sounds like /fɔːl/, not like 'fail' /feɪl/.
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 1，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from DICTIONARY_API_DEV, ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.