The proceedings are all off the record, but the mood is downbeat.
Suddenly the headlines were downbeat, and pundits were pontificating about the political implications of a stalled labor market.
But this downbeat aftermath is underplayed to prolong the misty-eyed sentimentality.
Critics may sneer, but it's impossible to do this sort of thing unless you have an almost perfect downbeat in your head.
British Dictionary definitions for downbeat
downbeat
/ˈdaʊnˌbiːt/
noun
1.
(music) the first beat of a bar or the downward gesture of a conductor's baton indicating this Compare upbeat
adjective
2.
(informal) depressed; gloomy
3.
(informal) relaxed; unemphatic
Word Origin and History for downbeat
1876 (n.), in reference to downward stroke of a conductor's baton; 1952 (adj.) in figurative sense of "pessimistic," but that is probably via associations of the word down (adv.), because the beat itself is no more pessimistic than the upbeat is optimistic.
Slang definitions & phrases for downbeat
downbeat
adjective
Depressing; pessimistic: a triumph of upbeat pictures over the downbeat
[1950s+; fr the downbeat of an orchestra leader's hand or baton, taken as the direction of dejection]