downcast

downcast, dispirited, dejected, depressed, disconsolate, woebegone mean affected by or showing very low spirits.

Downcast implies a being overcome by shame, mortification, or loss of hope or confidence; it usually suggests an inability to face others or an utter lack of cheerfulness

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his abstraction, and downcast, but not melancholy, air— Meredith

}

{

she comes into the room very determinedly: the two men, perplexed and ddwncast, following her— Shaw

}

Dispirited implies extreme low-spiritedness occasioned by failure to accomplish or to get what one wants or to achieve what one wishes to attain; it usually implies discouragement or a being disheartened

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he, dispirited, left the talking all to her— Meredith

}

{

dispirited by their futile efforts— Grandgent

}

{

sick and dispirited, he gave up his Arabian plan and started on the return voyage to Italy— Buchan

}

Dejected implies greater prostration of the spirits than either downcast or dispirited with sudden but often temporary loss of hope, courage, or vigor (Catherine took up her work directly, saying, in a dejected voice, that her head did not run upon Bath — much— Austen)

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I may, as I lie on the sand, be happy, dejected, in vacant or in pensive mood— Lowes

}

Depressed suggests a sinking under a heavy weight or a burden too great to be borne; it may express a temporary or a chronic mood or reaction and may, unlike the other terms of this group, indicate a serious inability to be normally active and happy

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depressed by his failures to the point of suicide

}

{

my spirits have been more depressed than is common, even with me— Cowper

}

{

when nothing happens they become sad and depressed— Anderson

}

Disconsolate fundamentally implies comfortlessness and carries a strong suggestion of being inconsolable or exceptionally uncomfortable; it may sometimes suggest no more than a frame of mind in which depression and disappointment are associated with discomfort or grief

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the Jews sat disconsolate on the poop; they complained much of the cold they had suffered in their exposed situation— Borrow

}

{

Adrian hurried after Richard in an extremely disconsolate state of mind. Not to be at the breakfast and see the best of the fun, disgusted him— Meredith

}

Woebegone usually suggests a frame of mind but it emphasizes the impression of dejection and defeat produced on an observer not only by the facial expression and posture of the one observed but also by his surroundings or quarters: it may imply dejection, depression, or merely discouragement in the persons affected or desolation or dilapidation in their surroundings, but the overall impression is that of a defeated, spiritless condition

{

it was the most woebegone farm I had ever seen

}

{

the woebegone expression on the countenances of the little children

}

{

a poor mendicant approached, old and woebegone— Lockhart

}

Analogous words: weighed down, oppressed (see DEPRESS): distressed, troubled (see TROUBLE vb): *despondent, forlorn

Antonyms: elated

Contrasted words: cheerful, happy, joyous (see GLAD)