From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdownerdown‧er /ˈdaʊnə $ -ər/ noun informal 1 [countable]MDD a drug that makes you feel very relaxed or sleepy → upper2 [singular]SAD/UNHAPPY a person or situation that stops you feeling happy The weather was a bit of a downer.3 → be on a downer
Examples from the Corpus
downer• Otherwise, this trip begins on a downer.• Sure I want to play good, because the season there last year was a downer for me.• Together they build an impressive wall of evidence - but their success carries a big downer.• The music, though laughable, isn't the main downer.• She had taken a handful of downers with her whisky around 10 a.m. and had woken up in hospital.• I was off for a week which is alright, but during that week I was heavily doped on downers.• If the Marx Brothers had made a surrealistic comedy while on downers, this would be it.• The book is a real downer.• United won twice away last month at Bristol Rovers and Wolves, while Birmingham are on a real downer. 