noun
definition
The accented beat at the beginning of a bar (indicated by a conductor with a downward stroke).
adjective
definition
Sad or pessimistic.
example
He sounded downbeat when asked about his future plans.
definition
Cautiously optimistic.
example
She carried herself with a quiet downbeat grace.
Examples of downbeat in a Sentence
The management, in turn, are likely to give a downbeat view of future business prospects.
The bouncy, uplifting feel of the music for this song belies the somewhat downbeat lyrical content.
He concluded, however, that they were just too downbeat to be of any practical use.
Most of the tracks have a blues feeling to them each very downbeat.
But things look decidedly downbeat if you are a signal engineer with a mission to put right the degradation.
But it was a surprisingly downbeat evening, rather than a celebratory one.
It may sound downbeat, but judging from the sample chapter nothing is further from the truth.
Interviews over, Sergeant reflects that Prescott is looking very downbeat for a winner.
It wraps up with a dopey, but nicely downbeat ending.
It's a downbeat experience, and the presence of those nets with the trapped and decaying fish makes it all the more foreboding.
Quite apart from the relentlessly downbeat subject matter, the book also feels rather insubstantial.
His solution appears to be to eschew the histrionics, the grandstanding, and play it as a downbeat slightly quizzical damaged human being.
Spicy and rich with dark cherries and plums, it's rough and rustic on one note but dampens with floral notes and creamy texture in the downbeat palate.
It's seven o'clock sharp and the conductor gives the downbeat for the brass band to begin.
Downbeat nystagmus is characterized by a nystagmus that is more pronounced when the child looks down, especially when looking to the side, or in lateral gaze.