Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

thumbs down

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.69 in modern English

Syllables: thumb-s -down
IPA

21

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A gesture signifying disapproval; a thumb pointing down out of a fist.

noun

A rejection or refusal.

verb

third-person singular simple present indicative of thumb down

Example Sentences

"He shook his head and gave a thumbs down."
"We requested permission but got a thumbs down."
"Indeed, THC does lower damaging pressure inside the eye, but as Drs. Finny T. John and Jean R. Hausheer […] wrote, “to achieve therapeutic levels of marijuana in the bloodstream to treat glaucoma, an individual would need to smoke approximately six to eight times a day,” […]. The major eye care medical societies have put thumbs down on marijuana to treat glaucoma."

Etymology

See thumbs up.

Inflected Forms

thumbs downs (plural) thumbs-down (alternative) thumb down (alternative)

Phrases

thumbs-down

Antonyms

thumbs up

Questions

What does thumbs down mean?: A gesture signifying disapproval; a thumb pointing down out of a fist.
Where does thumbs down come from?: See thumbs up.

How to pronounce thumbs down

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “thumbs down”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “thumbs down”.
Repeat and practice — Say “thumbs down” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.