downbeat

[ doun-beet ]

/ ˈdaʊnˌbit /

the downward stroke of a conductor's arm or baton indicating the first or accented beat of a measure.

the first beat of a measure.

gloomy or depressing; pessimistic: Hollywood movies seldom have downbeat endings.

Origin of downbeat

1875–80; down¹ + beat (noun)

Why did the Russian Ministry of Culture help to finance such a downbeat portrait of contemporary Russia?

Inside ‘Leviathan’: Russian Filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Award-Winning Anti-Putin Cannes Film |Richard Porton |May 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Most affecting is his romance with a cute, downbeat girl inmate named Andrea.

Must-Read Debuts |Taylor Antrim |October 22, 2010 |DAILY BEAST
Full of lively, comic storytelling and resonant in theme—youth ends; how sad—it casts a downbeat and very of-the-moment mood.

Gen-X's Midlife Crisis Continues |Taylor Antrim |July 12, 2010 |DAILY BEAST
Stanley Crouch's culture pieces have appeared in Harper's, The New York Times, Vogue, Downbeat, the New Yorker, and more.

Ladies’ Night |Stanley Crouch |March 29, 2009 |DAILY BEAST

Stanley Crouch's culture pieces have appeared in Harper's, the New York Times, Vogue, Downbeat, the New Yorker, and more.

White House Race War |Stanley Crouch |February 27, 2009 |DAILY BEAST

downbeat

/ (ˈdaʊnˌbiːt) /

music the first beat of a bar or the downward gesture of a conductor's baton indicating this Compare upbeat

informal depressed; gloomy

informal relaxed; unemphatic