the.com/downcast
the posture of grief that gravity invented before language ever could.
means Feeling dejected and low in spirits, often shown by literally lowering the eyes or face.
from A plain English compound, stitched together from "down" and "cast" — and "cast" once meant simply to throw or fling, as you'd cast a stone or a fishing line. So "downcast" began as the eyes or face being thrown downward, a physical gesture of dejection. The bodily image came first; the emotional sense — a heart cast down — grew out of it, the way so many feeling-words borrow their shape from the body that wears them.
- literal origin
- From eyes cast downward in sorrow or shame.
- metallurgy
- Also means casting metal downward into a mold.
- mining term
- A downcast shaft pulls fresh air underground.
- body honesty
- Slumped shoulders signal mood faster than any word.
eeyore — winnie the pooh character known for persistent melancholy and gloomy outlook
morrissey — the smiths frontman famous for lyrics dwelling on sadness and self-pity since the 1980s
marvin the paranoid android — hitchhiker's guide character with a depressed personality and 50,000-year lifespan of misery