α. 1800s down-drug (Scottish).
β. see down- prefix and drag n.
down-dragn.
/ˈdaʊndraɡ/, U.S. /ˈdaʊnˌdræɡ/, Scottish English /ˈdʌʊndraɡ/ Originally Scottish.
A person who or thing which drags or weighs someone or something down; a force directed downwards; a depressing influence; a burden. Also (and in earliest use): the condition of being dragged or weighed down. Cf. downdraught n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > dejection > [noun] > depressing quality > depressing thing, person, or circumstances
cloudc1430
palla1450
melancholya1475
downdraughta1681
Job's comforter1738
damper1748
killjoy1776
wet blanket1810
down-drag1814
chill1821
dismals1829
shadow1855
down1856
a skeleton at the feast (or banquet)1857
wet blanket1857
depressor1868
dampener1887
sorry-go-round1898
wet smack1927
bringdown1935
droopy drawers1939
big chill1943
party pooper1947
misery1951
party poop1951
grinch1966
downer1969
1814 tr. S. Dach in Illustr. Northern Antiq. 429 Love in our hearts will wax..Thro' crosses and down-drug.
1865 D. Livingstone & C. Livingstone Narr. Exped. Zambesi 596 They must prove a down-drag, a moral millstone on the neck.
1898 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 4 June 1444/1 The uterine circulation can be controlled by a down drag exerted on the cervix.
1939 Lima (Ohio) News 5 Mar. 19 (advt.) An exclusive new Full Fashioned Bustline that..banishes the down-drag that spoils so many smooth silhouettes.
1954 V. Cronin Golden Honeycomb xix. 213 The cathedral is more than a fine building; here,..the tower, a figure of transcendence, of grace resisting the down-drag, redeems the grey hovels.
1994 W. N. Herbert Forked Tongue 115 Aye til them that tak thi doon-drag oan; them that dallow i thi doggerlone o Poetese, ploutir amang sejoinit wurds.
2008 Federal News Service (Nexis) 28 Jan. The president has to recognize that Iraq has been a real down-drag on our economy and on our military.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1814