downpour means A heavy fall of rain. It carries an Arena rating of 1681, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, downpour ranks #960 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words, #1,717 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #3,332 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #5,509 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
downpour is pronounced /ˈdaʊn.pɔː(ɹ)/.
Why “downpour” is a great word
A heavy and sudden fall of rain. Formed within English from the prefix 'down-' (indicating downward direction or intensity) and the verb 'pour' (to flow or cause to flow in a stream), first recorded 1805–15. Unlike a 'drizzle' (which murmurs in faint, scattered droplets) or a 'deluge' (which implies a catastrophic flood), a downpour is a contained, decisive outburst. It is the percussive roar on a tin roof, the world dissolving into a silver-grey curtain, and the sudden, earthy scent of petrichor rising from hot pavement—a brief, violent baptism before the clouds move on.
Etymology
From down- + pour. Compare typologically Czech liják, Polish ulewa, Slovene naliv, Russian ли́вень (lívenʹ) (akin to лить (litʹ)).
noun
- A heavy fall of rain.e.g.“They got caught in a downpour without an umbrella and came back soaked.”
verb
- To pour down; rain heavily.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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