crestfallen
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From crest + fallen, from the appearance of a horse and its position of head on its crest (chest) after defeat in a battle
[edit] Pronunciation
- (UK): IPA: /ˈkrɛstfɔːlən/, SAMPA: /"krEstfO:l@n/
- (US): IPA: /ˈkrɛstfɔlən/, SAMPA: /"krEstfOl@n/
- (cot-caught merger, Northern Cities Vowel Shift): IPA: /ˈkrɛstfɑlən/, SAMPA: /"krEstfAl@n/
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Audio (US cot-caught merged) (file)
[edit] Adjective
crestfallen (comparative more crestfallen, superlative most crestfallen)
- Sad because of a recent disappointment.
- Depressed.
[edit] Quotations
| 1876 1887 1897 | 1908 1946 | ||||||
| ME « | 15th c. | 16th c. | 17th c. | 18th c. | 19th c. | 20th c. | 21st c. |
- 1876 — Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, ch. XII
- Tom's cheeks burned. He gathered himself up and sneaked off, crushed and crestfallen.
- 1887 — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, ch. VI
- "'...You remember the hat beside the dead man?'
'Yes,'said Holmes; 'by John Underwood and Sons, 129, Camberwell Road.'
Gregson looked quite crestfallen.
'I had no idea that you noticed that,'he said. "Have you been there?'
'No.'"
- "'...You remember the hat beside the dead man?'
- 1897 — H. G. Wells, The Invisible Man, ch. 12
- Hall tried to convey everything by grimaces and dumb show, but Mrs. Hall was obdurate. She raised her voice. So Hall and Henfrey, rather crestfallen, tiptoed back to the bar, gesticulating to explain to her.
- 1908 — Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, ch. 6
- 'He did it awfully well,' said the crestfallen Rat.
- 1946 — Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, ch. 15
- I rushed there; no lamp! Crestfallen, I returned to my guru.
[edit] Synonyms
- (sad because of a recent disappointment): disappointed, disillusioned
- (depressed): blue, dejected, despondent, depressed, downcast, down in the dumps, sorrowful
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
sad because of a recent disappointment
depressed
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