free fall

NOUN

rapid decline or descent

Synonyms

WEAK

collapse decline dive drop nosedive plummet plummeting plunge sag slump

Antonyms

WEAK

upturn

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Software and services stocks have been in free fall for weeks, dragging the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF to the lowest levels in nearly a year and more than 30% from its mid-September peak.

From Barron's • Feb. 13, 2026

Someone offering you a higher fixed rate of interest on bonds, at a moment when the economy is in free fall, is someone offering you free money.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 24, 2025

With a sudden end to foreign exchange earnings, Venezuelan GDP went into the kind of free fall you rarely see outside war, setting off a humanitarian crisis that brought millions to the brink of starvation.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 7, 2025

But gifted playwrights know how to read the signs of a society in free fall.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025

For instance, if you have a ball in free fall, it moves in a parabola, while a frictionless spring wobbles back and forth forever, and a spring with friction slowly comes to rest.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife