downside C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary US /ˈdaʊnsaɪd/ UK /ˈdaʊnsaɪd/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun the negative aspect or drawback of something The only downside of the job is the lengthy commute. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · the negative aspect or... drawbackdisadvantagenegativedetrimentliabilitycatchsnag ↔ Opposites upsideadvantagebenefitplus Word family Related forms downwarddown Etymology AI details A compound of 'down' + 'side', originally a literal lower side; the figurative 'negative aspect' sense is 20th-century American. dūne Old English sīde Old English View etymology graph -> Topics General Vocabulary External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # downside **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈdaʊnsaɪd/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈdaʊnsaɪd/ ## Meanings 1. the negative aspect or drawback of something ## Examples - The only downside of the job is the lengthy commute. ## Synonyms - drawback - disadvantage - negative - detriment - liability - catch - snag ## Antonyms - upside - advantage - benefit - plus ## Related Forms - downward - down ## Roots and Affixes - Root: dūne - Root: sīde ## Etymology A compound of 'down' + 'side', originally a literal lower side; the figurative 'negative aspect' sense is 20th-century American. ## AI Etymology Downside is a compound of 'down' + 'side', originally a literal lower side; the figurative 'negative aspect' sense is 20th-century American. The ancestry passes through Old English dūne and Old English sīde. In present use as a noun, it means "the negative aspect or drawback of something", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. The figurative development named in the history lets the word move from a concrete base into a broader descriptive use. Related words include downward and down. ## Topics - General Vocabulary markdown