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downright

adv
/ˈdaʊnɹaɪt/

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”).

  1. inherited from dūne — “down”
  2. inherited from *h₃reǵ-✻ — “to straighten”
  3. inherited from riht — “straight; etc.”
  4. inherited from *dʰewh₂-✻ — “haze, mist; smoke”
  5. inherited from *dūnā✻
  6. inherited from adūn
  7. inherited from dounright

Definitions

  1. Completely, wholly.

    • He wasn’t just cool to me, he was downright rude.
    • VVe vvere deſcried, theyle mock vs novv dounright.

  2. Of acts or speech

    Of acts or speech: directly and unambiguously; clearly, plainly.

    • Ros[alind]. Not true in loue? / Cel[ia]. Yes, vvhen he is in, but I thinke he is not in. / Ros. You haue heard him ſvveare dovvnright he vvas.
    • VVell, 'tis not my Buſineſs to quarrel vvith her dovvn[-]right.
    • Mr. Halkett, […] told him downright that he had assisted at many weddings, but he had never the pleasure of supporting such a thorough "carry-me-out-and-bury-me-decently" looking article before.

  3. Straight down

    Straight down; perpendicularly.

    • Cedentes capilli, heares [hairs] hanging down ryght.
  4. ›+ 7 more definitions

    1. Immediately at that place and time

      Immediately at that place and time; without delay; altogether, at once, then and there.

      • This is the ſoul that I vvith preſſer quill / Muſt novv purſue and fall upon dovvn-right, […]
      • The reading of this Paper put Mrs. Bull in ſuch a Paſſion, that ſhe fell dovvnright into a Fit, and they vvere forc’d to give her a good quantity of the Spirit of Hartſhorn before ſhe recover’d.
      • And, dear Lady G. he dovvnright kiſſed me—My lip; and not my cheek—and in ſo fervent a vvay—I tell you every-thing, my Charlotte—I could have been angry—had I knovvn hovv, from ſurprize.

    2. Absolute, complete.

      • '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,[…]'
      • Ye're a' gait at ance, Annie Anderson. A doonricht rintheroot!

    3. Of a person or their behaviour

      Of a person or their behaviour: direct, plain, straightforward; also, of speech: direct and unambiguous; blunt, to the point.

      • The ſay this Angelo vvas not made by Man and VVoman, after this dovvne-right vvay of Creation: is it true, thinke you?
      • [Y]our dovvne right Captain ſtill Ile lieve, and ſerve you, […]
      • 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; […]

    4. Coming straight down

      Coming straight down; directed vertically.

      • Downeright ſtroke […] taille
      • This Hawkweede hath no deepe downeright roote, but ſheweth as though it were gnawen or bitten, lyke to the roote of Deuils bit, […]

    5. Chiefly in downright money

      Chiefly in downright money: in its most basic form; ordinary.

      • [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.

    6. A low grade of wool from the lower parts of the sides of a fleece.

      • It is ſaid, there are nine Sorts of VVool contained in one good Fleece, vvhich to make out, they ſay, that there are five Sorts for making Cloth, and four for Combings; a ſuperfine VVool, a head VVool, Dovvnrights, Seconds, and Livery.

    7. A vertical line

      A vertical line; a perpendicular, a vertical.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at downright. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01downright02clearly03obviously04filler05add06augment07dramatic08voice09mere

A definitional loop anchored at downright. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at downright

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA