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fall

fall

16 8.8
A loss of innocence through wrong action
  • noun
  • /fɔl/
  • Literature
: caída
  • The devil who steals Sancho's donkey parodies Don Quixote and his fall from Rosinante.
  • fall from grace
  • the fall of man

Let them have their fall and then you can maybe talk them through it if you want.

Examples

  • How else are we to explain our fall from grace?

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Furthermore, the weakness caused by the fall induces personal sin, something from which no one is exempt.

    Academic text (1992)
  • And evil is sort of a fall from higher being to lower being.

  • Not even six months since her fall, but it felt like years.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • My own fall from grace was not as abrupt as either of my siblings.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The effect of Karim's fall on him is primarily spiritual and psychological.

    Academic text (1997)
  • However, the fall of the empire left Balumil isolated for five millennia.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • His unexpected fall from grace shocked everyone who knew him as a moral leader.

  • The tale of her fall serves as a cautionary reminder about the dangers of ambition.

  • After years of dedication, his sudden fall from esteemed company left many wondering what went wrong.

Synonyms

17 6.6

A loss of status and respect after wrongdoing

is a moral or spiritual loss of innocence rather than social standing
fallenness
vsfall
  • Literature
1 9.9

A state of having lost moral or spiritual goodness

is the initial lapse into sin that creates that state

Antonyms

purity
  • Formal
30 3.9

The state of being without moral wrong or corruption

Idioms

To become available to people who might use it to harm others

A loss of status and respect after wrongdoing

10 6.5

Stop taking part or trying because of problems

To get something good without effort or planning

To accept what happens and not try to change the result

Children often look and behave like their parents

3 9.9

Things sold or bought secretly because they were stolen

Not get noticed or dealt with

To not be easily fooled because you have experience

To get things someone probably stole and sold cheaply

1 8.6

Continue doing something with energy until you can no longer

Accept a big risk to protect other people

Hug someone tightly because you feel very happy or relieved

Suddenly fail completely because it is weak or badly built

To begin behaving badly again and lose people's respect

To die as a Christian who trusts in God and expects life after death

Fail to reach either goal because you try to do both

1 7.6

To fail badly and embarrass yourself in front of other people

Fail at the final stage after earlier success

To fail completely and feel embarrassed in front of others

To look much less attractive after a sudden change

To die or suddenly lose an important position

To react strongly because something is very funny or surprising

8.8

To go to bed or sleep

6.4

To get something good without trying or expecting it

To keep trying after many failures no matter how often you fail

To lose your balance and land on your backside in an awkward or embarrassing way

To accept blame or quit a job to protect other people

Compounds

fall guy
  • Informal
20 7.6

A person who others blame so they avoid punishment

free fall
  • Specialized
17 4.0

Movement of something downwards while only gravity pulls it

16 4.6

A sudden large drop in value, often of stocks or prices

Fall of man
  • Literature
1 9.9

A Christian belief that people lose their innocence when they disobey God

Fall of Man
  • Literature
1 8.9

An event in the Bible when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, lost their innocence, and left the Garden

1 6.0

The time when day and night are almost the same length, marking the start of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere

1 6.0

A moment when a play or show ends and the curtain comes down

1 4.7

A plant that produces flowers in autumn

fall webworm
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A caterpillar that lives in large silk nests on tree branches and eats the leaves in late summer and fall

1 8.1

A small European plant with yellow flowers that blooms in the fall and is now common in North America

fall girl
  • Offensive
1 9.2

A woman who is easily tricked and often blamed for other people's mistakes

fall armyworm
  • Specialized
1 8.6

A caterpillar that eats and destroys corn and other grass crops

fall cankerworm
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A green or brown caterpillar with white stripes that eats tree leaves in autumn

A bush that loses its leaves and has large cone-shaped flowers in fall

A cover that folds down to protect piano keys when not played

How Serious

depravity
  • Formal
24 8.8
fall
  • Literature
16 8.8
transgression
50 8.1
lapse
66 4.9
slip
58 1.6

Surface Forms

fall singular
falls plural

Etymology

The noun fall for a lapse into wrongdoing comes from the same idea of falling from a better state, from old English feallan 'to fall'. So a 'fall' is a loss of innocence or moral failure.