DOWNER refers to something depressing or disappointing, or a depressant drug that reduces nervous system activity. From casual disappointments to pharmaceutical sedatives, this versatile word captures various forms of bringing down mood or energy. Worth 10 base points in Scrabble with its valuable W tile, DOWNER offers solid mid-range scoring.
Yes. DOWNER is in the Scrabble-style word list used by our tools and scores 10 points in Scrabble, 11 in Words With Friends and 10 in Wordfeud (base tile values, no board multipliers). Always check the dictionary your game uses (NWL, Collins or the WWF list) before playing.
| Letter | D | O | W | N | E | R | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scrabble | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| Words With Friends | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
| Wordfeud | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
"Downer" emerged in American English as a straightforward compound of "down" + "-er," following the productive pattern of creating agent nouns or descriptive terms. The construction mirrors "upper," creating a natural linguistic pair for opposite effects. While "down" has ancient Germanic roots (Old English "dūne," from the hill), "downer" as a mood descriptor appeared in the 1960s, with the drug sense following shortly after. This recent coinage reflects modern needs to name both emotional states and pharmaceutical categories.
Anagrams: WONDER
Hooks: no front hooks; back DOWNERS.
Words inside DOWNER: 69 shorter words can be made from these letters – highest scoring: WONDERDOWERDROWNENDOWOWNEDROWEDDOWNDREWOWEDOWNERREWONROWEN. See all words from DOWNER.