下した火び

し

た

び

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

Describes a fire that is burning low, or figuratively, a trend, excitement, or activity that is losing strength. Often used with になる or だ.

火か事じはようやく下した火びになった。
The fire has finally died down.
ブームはもう下した火びだ。
The boom is already waning.

Kanji

下below, down, descend
火fire

Similar words

衰すい退たい
衰退 is a more formal term for decline, often used for economic or social decay, while 下火 is more colloquial and often implies a temporary loss of intensity.
鎮ちん火か
鎮火 means a fire has been completely extinguished, whereas 下火 means it is merely burning low or dying down.

Etymology

Compound of 下 (した, 'under, below') and 火 (ひ, 'fire'), with rendaku voicing of ひ to び. Literally 'low fire', it originally referred to a fire that has burned down and later extended to figurative decline.