let down
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb (transitive):
- To disappoint someone; to fail to meet the hopes, expectations, or trust of someone. This meaning focuses on causing emotional disappointment.
- To lower something or someone; to move something or someone to a lower position. This is the literal, physical meaning.
Usage and Examples
- Verb (To disappoint):
- I promised to help, and I don't want to let you down. (I don't want to disappoint you or fail to keep my promise.)
- The team's performance really let the fans down. (The team's performance failed to meet the fans' expectations.)
- Verb (To lower physically):
- She carefully let down the rope so we could climb up. (She lowered the rope.)
- He let the window down to get some fresh air. (He lowered the window.)
Advanced Usage
- "to feel let down": to feel disappointed by someone's actions.
- After all his promises, she felt deeply let down.
- "to let one's guard/hair down": to relax and stop being formal or defensive.
- At the party, he finally let his guard down and enjoyed himself.
Variants and Related Words
- Letdown (noun): A disappointment.
- The movie's ending was a real letdown.
- Disappoint (verb): A direct synonym for the emotional sense of "let down."
Synonyms
- Disappoint, fail, disillusion (for the emotional sense).
- Lower, descend, take down (for the physical sense).
Antonyms
- Delight, satisfy, come through (for) (for the emotional sense).
- Raise, lift, hoist (for the physical sense).
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Let in: to allow to enter.
- Please let the cat in.
- Let out: to allow to leave; to make a sound.
- He let out a sigh of relief.
Related Idioms
- Let someone down gently: to disappoint someone in a kind or careful way to avoid hurting them too much.
- When ending the relationship, he tried to let her down gently.
Verb
- fail to meet the hopes or expectations of
- Her boyfriend let her down when he did not propose marriage
- move something or somebody to a lower position
- take down the vase from the shelf