downright
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈdaʊnɹaɪt/
note: as a postqualifier or at the end of a clause
ipa: /ˌdaʊnˈɹaɪt/
ipa: /ˈdaʊnˌɹaɪt/
rhymes: (as a postqualifier or at the end of a clause) -aɪt
Forms: form: more downright
form: most downright
Etymology: The adverb is derived from Middle English dounright, dounriȝt (“right down, straight down; face down; vertically; used for emphasis: outright, downright”), and then either:
* possibly an aphetic form of adounright (“straight down; directly, immediately (?)”), from adoun (“downward”, adverb) (from Old English adūn, adūne (“down, downward”, adverb), ultimately from dūn (“hill, mountain”), from Proto-West Germanic *dūnā, *dūnu (“hill; sand dune”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“haze, mist; smoke”)) + right (“direct; straight; etc.”, adjective) (from Old English riht (“straight; etc.”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten”)); or
* from doun (“down, downward; etc.”, adverb) (from Old English dūne (“down”), ultimately from dūn (“hill, mountain”): see above) + right.
By surface analysis, down (adverb) + right (adjective).
The adjective and noun are derived from the adverb. Noun sense 1 (“low grade of wool”) may be from the obsolete adjective sense 2.2 (“in its most basic form; ordinary”).
Senses: examples: text: For although in that ancient and diffuſed adoration of IdolLs, unto the Prieſts and ſubtiler heads, the vvorſhip perhaps might be ſymbolicall, and as thoſe Images ſome vvay related unto their deities, yet vvas the Idolatry direct and dovvne-right in the people, vvhoſe credulity is illimitable, vvho may be made believe that any thing is God, and may be made believe there is no God at all.
ref: 1646, Thomas Browne, “Of Credulity and Supinity”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 17:
text: 'I ſee his Deſign,' ſaid ſhe, 'for he made dovvnright Love to me Yeſterday Morning; but as I am reſolved never to admit it, I beg your Ladyſhip not to leave us alone together any more,[…]'
ref: 1749, Henry Fielding, “A Further Explanation of the foregoing Design”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume V, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book XV, page 214:
text: Ye're a' gait at ance, Annie Anderson. A doonricht rintheroot!
ref: [1865, George Mac Donald, chapter XI, in Alec Forbes of Howglen. […], volume II, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, successors to Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 99:
text: The weather is raw and boisterous in winter, shifty and ungenial in summer, and a downright meteorological purgatory in the spring.
ref: 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter I, in Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes […], London: Seeley, Jackson, and Halliday, […], →OCLC, page 1:
text: People who are downright bad drivers should not handle a motor these days, when the roads are so crowded and dangerous. They are a menace to other persons as well as to themselves.
ref: 1934, J[ohn] B[oynton] Priestley, “To the West Riding”, in English Journey […], London: William Heinemann in association with Victor Gollancz, →OCLC, section 1, page 150:
synonyms: word: evendown
word: outright
word: right-down
word: unmitigated
word: utter
word: abject
word: frightful
word: absolute
word: arrant
word: categoric
word: categorical
word: complete
word: consummate
word: downright
word: full
word: full-blown
word: full-bore
word: full-on
word: mere
word: outright
word: out-and-out
word: perfect
word: proper
word: pure
word: rank
word: regular
word: right
word: root and branch
word: sheer
word: straight-out
word: thorough
word: thoroughgoing
word: total
word: unadulterated
word: unalloyed
word: unattenuated
word: uncompromising
word: unconditional
word: unfettered
word: unmitigated
word: unqualified
word: unreserved
word: unrestricted
word: utter
word: wholesale
glosses: Absolute, complete.
examples: text: The ſay this Angelo vvas not made by Man and VVoman, after this dovvne-right vvay of Creation: is it true, thinke you?
ref: c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 73, column 2:
text: [Y]our dovvne right Captain ſtill Ile lieve, and ſerve you, […]
ref: 1616–1619 (first performance), John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, “The Knight of Malta”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene ii, page 93, column 2:
text: And here an Admonition from a dead Author, or a Caveat from an Impartial Pen, vvhoſe Aim neither vvas, nor can be taken, as any particular By-Deſign, vvill prevail more, and have a better Effect, than a dovvn-right Advice; […]
ref: a. 1627 (date written), Francis Bacon, “Supplement XIII. The Prudent Statesman: Or, The Office of Prime Ministers. Section VIII.”, in Peter Shaw, editor, The Philosophical Works of Francis Bacon, […], volume II, London: […] J. J. and P. Knapton; […], published 1733, →OCLC, paragraph 113, page 209:
text: [T]hree Nights together he dreamt that he ſavv a Neighbouring Gentleman kiſſing his Miſtreſs, and in dovvnright Engliſh, lying with her.
ref: 1727, [Daniel Defoe], “Of the Present Pretences of the Magicians: How They Defend Themselves; and Some Examples of Their Practice”, in A System of Magick; or, A History of the Black Art. […], London: […] J. Roberts […], →OCLC, page 314:
text: I love to pour out all myſelf, as plain / As dovvnright Shippen, or as old Montagne.
ref: 1733, Alexander Pope, The First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, […], London [actually Edinburgh]: […] L[awton] G[illiver] and sold by A. Dodd […], E[lizabeth] Nutt […], →OCLC, page 9:
text: It bears the evident marks of having originally been, vvhat the honeſt and dovvnright Doctor Douglaſs aſſures us it vvas, a ſcheme of fraudulent debtors to cheat their creditors.
ref: 1776 March 9, Adam Smith, “Of Money Considered as a Particular Branch of the General Stock of the Society, or of the Expence of Maintaining the National Capital”, in An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. […], volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, book II (Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock), page 396:
text: There is an openness, a quickness, almost a bluntness in Mr. Weston, which every body likes in him because there is so much good humour with it—but that would not do to be copied. Neither would Mr. Knightley's downright, decided, commanding sort of manner—though it suits him very well; his figure, and look, and situation in life seem to allow it; but if any young man were to set about copying him, he would not be sufferable.
ref: 1815 December (indicated as 1816), [Jane Austen], chapter IV, in Emma: […], volume I, London: […] [Charles Roworth and James Moyes] for John Murray, →OCLC, page 66:
text: Harry is a simple downright fellow, and though I think he is my better in a broil, yet in discourse I can turn him my own way.
ref: 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 121:
text: Her husband was evidently a sensible man, and he might have given his wife a little more sense than she could have derived from her downright father and her silly mother-in-law, who were really as great a pair of noodles as ever were exhibited in the pages of a modern novel, under the cognomen of "amiable rustics."
ref: 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 237:
text: There were miners from Klondyke, hunters from the backwoods, troopers from the Northwest Frontier Police, and included were some of the "hardest cases" that the land of the maple leaf ever produced; these were past-masters in the use of unique expletives, and for downright and original profanity it would hardly be possible to find their equal.
ref: 1907, George [Ramsdale] Witton, “The Australians in Cape Town”, in Scapegoats of the Empire: The True Story of Breaker Morant’s Bushveldt Carbineers, Angus & Robertson Publishers, published 1982, →ISBN, page 35:
text: Izumi Shikibu's Diary is written with extreme delicacy of treatment. English words and thought seem too downright a medium into which to render these evanescent, half-expressed sentences and poems—vague as the misty mountain scenery of her country, with no pronouns at all, and without verb inflections.
ref: 1920, Annie Shepley Omori, Kochi Doi, “Translators’ Note”, in Annie Shepley Omori, Kochi Doi, transl., Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company […], →OCLC, page v:
text: That this paragraph will annoy the typical citizen of Hull, who prides himself upon being a plain and downright fellow, I have no doubt whatever; but he should give it a chance, for he is not so plain and downright as he woud have us believe, and neither is that city of his.
ref: 1934, J[ohn] B[oynton] Priestley, “To Lincoln and Norfolk”, in English Journey […], London: William Heinemann in association with Victor Gollancz, →OCLC, section 1, page 364:
text: The twisted trees and high tossed driftwood hinted that Skedans could be as thoroughly fierce as she was calm. She was downright about everything.
ref: 1941, Emily Carr, “Skedans”, in Klee Wyck (Clarke Irwin Canadian Paperback Series; CI 9), centennial edition, Toronto, Ont.; Vancouver, B.C.: Clarke, Irwin & Company, published 1971, →ISBN, page 19:
synonyms: clear
unevasive
glosses: Of a person or their behaviour: direct, plain, straightforward; also, of speech: direct and unambiguous; blunt, to the point.
examples: text: Downeright ſtroke […] taille
ref: 1530 July 28 (Gregorian calendar), Iohan Palsgraue [i.e., John Palsgrave], “The Table of Substantyues”, in Lesclarcissement de la langue francoyse⸝ […], [London]: […] [Richard Pynson] fynnysshed by Iohan Haukyns, →OCLC, 3rd boke, folio xxx, recto, column 2; reprinted Geneva: Slatkine Reprints, October 1972, →OCLC:
text: Thoſe perſones, […] be auouched to bee like vnto trees, growyng on the edges or brinkes of clieffes and rockes of a downright pitche, or a ſtiepe down fall: the fruites of whiche trees no man could euer geat a taſte of, but theſame were from time to time, deuoured by the crowes and the rauens.
ref: 1564 February, Erasmus, “The Saiynges of Diogenes the Cynike”, in Nicolas Udall [i.e., Nicholas Udall], transl., Apophthegmes, that is to Saie, Prompte, Quicke, Wittie and Sentẽcious Saiynges, […], London: […] Ihon Kingston, →OCLC, book II, folios 98, verso – 99, recto, paragraph 161:
text: This Hawkweede hath no deepe downeright roote, but ſheweth as though it were gnawen or bitten, lyke to the roote of Deuils bit, […]
ref: 1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Hawke Weede”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 5th part (Herbes, Rootes, and Fruites, whiche are Dayly Vsed in Meates), page 564:
text: Lord Staffords Father, Duke of Buckingham, / Is either ſlaine or vvounded dangerous. / I cleft his Beauer [bevor] vvith a dovvn-right blovv: / That this is true (Father) behold his Blood.
ref: c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 147, column 1:
text: VVe thinke the heauens enioy their Sphericall / Their round proportion embracing all. / But yet their various and perplexed courſe, / Obſeru'd in divers ages doth enforce / Men to finde out ſo many Eccentrique parts, / Such diuers dovvne-right lines, ſuch overthvvarts, / As diſproportion that pure forme.
ref: 1611, [John Donne], An Anatomy of the World. […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes the Elder?] for Samuel Macham. […], →OCLC, signature B2, recto:
text: As his bodie bends / To iump from dovvne-right cliffes, compaſſionate / Apollo, vvith light vvings, preuents his fate: […]
ref: 1626, Ovid, “The Eleuenth Booke”, in George Sandys, transl., Ovid’s Metamorphosis Englished […], London: […] William Stansby, →OCLC, pages 224–225:
text: And vvith that he gave him again, a dovvn-right blovv, and brought him upon his Knees.
ref: 1684, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress. From This World to That which is to Come: The Second Part. […], London: […] Nathaniel Ponder […], →OCLC, page 71:
text: [S]aving the lack of your hand, a mischance beyond remedy, you ought rather to rejoice than to complain; for no barber-chirurgeon in France or England could have more ably performed the operation than this churl with one downright blow.
ref: 1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter III, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 97:
glosses: Coming straight down; directed vertically.
examples: text: [T]he merchant's wife, next to her who abounds in plenty, is not to have downright money, but the mercenary part of her mind is engaged with a present of plate, and a little ambition.
ref: 1712 January 15 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “FRIDAY, January 4, 1711–1712”, in The Spectator, number 266; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 329:
glosses: Chiefly in downright money: in its most basic form; ordinary.