diff --git a/docs/cli.rst b/docs/cli.rst
index b314b2d7d..e5ffcfcdc 100644
--- a/docs/cli.rst
+++ b/docs/cli.rst
@@ -1033,6 +1033,14 @@ Use the ``--unique`` option to create a unique index.
 
 Use ``--if-not-exists`` to avoid attempting to create the index if one with that name already exists.
 
+To add an index on a column in descending order, prefix the column with a hyphen. Since this can be confused for a command-line option you need to construct that like this::
+
+    $ sqlite-utils create-index mydb.db mytable -- col1 -col2 col3
+
+This will create an index on that table on ``(col1, col2 desc, col3)``.
+
+If your column names are already prefixed with a hyphen you'll need to manually execute a ``CREATE INDEX`` SQL statement to add indexes to them rather than using this tool.
+
 .. _cli_fts:
 
 Configuring full-text search
diff --git a/docs/python-api.rst b/docs/python-api.rst
index ad7b394d1..418c58d5f 100644
--- a/docs/python-api.rst
+++ b/docs/python-api.rst
@@ -1866,6 +1866,17 @@ By default the index will be named ``idx_{table-name}_{columns}`` - if you want
         index_name="good_dogs_by_age"
     )
 
+To create an index in descending order for a column, wrap the column name in ``db.DescIndex()`` like this:
+
+.. code-block:: python
+
+    from sqlite_utils.db import DescIndex
+
+    db["dogs"].create_index(
+        ["is_good_dog", DescIndex("age")],
+        index_name="good_dogs_by_age"
+    )
+
 You can create a unique index by passing ``unique=True``:
 
 .. code-block:: python
diff --git a/sqlite_utils/cli.py b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
index 960d34c44..52de64a0e 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/cli.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/cli.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 import hashlib
 import pathlib
 import sqlite_utils
-from sqlite_utils.db import AlterError
+from sqlite_utils.db import AlterError, DescIndex
 import textwrap
 import io
 import itertools
@@ -450,11 +450,21 @@ def index_foreign_keys(path, load_extension):
 )
 @load_extension_option
 def create_index(path, table, column, name, unique, if_not_exists, load_extension):
-    "Add an index to the specified table covering the specified columns"
+    """
+    Add an index to the specified table covering the specified columns.
+    Use "sqlite-utils create-index mydb -- -column" to specify descending
+    order for a column.
+    """
     db = sqlite_utils.Database(path)
     _load_extensions(db, load_extension)
+    # Treat -prefix as descending for columns
+    columns = []
+    for col in column:
+        if col.startswith("-"):
+            col = DescIndex(col[1:])
+        columns.append(col)
     db[table].create_index(
-        column, index_name=name, unique=unique, if_not_exists=if_not_exists
+        columns, index_name=name, unique=unique, if_not_exists=if_not_exists
     )
 
 
diff --git a/sqlite_utils/db.py b/sqlite_utils/db.py
index 0e37b1203..fdfe360aa 100644
--- a/sqlite_utils/db.py
+++ b/sqlite_utils/db.py
@@ -144,6 +144,10 @@ class InvalidColumns(Exception):
     pass
 
 
+class DescIndex(str):
+    pass
+
+
 _COUNTS_TABLE_CREATE_SQL = """
 CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS [{}](
    [table] TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
@@ -1156,6 +1160,13 @@ def create_index(self, columns, index_name=None, unique=False, if_not_exists=Fal
             index_name = "idx_{}_{}".format(
                 self.name.replace(" ", "_"), "_".join(columns)
             )
+        columns_sql = []
+        for column in columns:
+            if isinstance(column, DescIndex):
+                fmt = "[{}] desc"
+            else:
+                fmt = "[{}]"
+            columns_sql.append(fmt.format(column))
         sql = (
             textwrap.dedent(
                 """
@@ -1167,7 +1178,7 @@ def create_index(self, columns, index_name=None, unique=False, if_not_exists=Fal
             .format(
                 index_name=index_name,
                 table_name=self.name,
-                columns=", ".join("[{}]".format(c) for c in columns),
+                columns=", ".join(columns_sql),
                 unique="UNIQUE " if unique else "",
                 if_not_exists="IF NOT EXISTS " if if_not_exists else "",
             )
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 2e982dd25..17ce27d8f 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -208,6 +208,17 @@ def test_create_index(db_path):
     )
 
 
+def test_create_index_desc(db_path):
+    db = Database(db_path)
+    assert [] == db["Gosh"].indexes
+    result = CliRunner().invoke(cli.cli, ["create-index", db_path, "Gosh", "--", "-c1"])
+    assert result.exit_code == 0
+    assert (
+        db.execute("select sql from sqlite_master where type='index'").fetchone()[0]
+        == "CREATE INDEX [idx_Gosh_c1]\n    ON [Gosh] ([c1] desc)"
+    )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "col_name,col_type,expected_schema",
     (
diff --git a/tests/test_create.py b/tests/test_create.py
index e08eb2514..6e925dcf9 100644
--- a/tests/test_create.py
+++ b/tests/test_create.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from sqlite_utils.db import (
     Index,
     Database,
+    DescIndex,
     ForeignKey,
     AlterError,
     NoObviousTable,
@@ -739,6 +740,19 @@ def test_create_index_if_not_exists(fresh_db):
     dogs.create_index(["name"], if_not_exists=True)
 
 
+def test_create_index_desc(fresh_db):
+    dogs = fresh_db["dogs"]
+    dogs.insert({"name": "Cleo", "twitter": "cleopaws", "age": 3, "is good dog": True})
+    assert [] == dogs.indexes
+    dogs.create_index([DescIndex("age"), "name"])
+    sql = fresh_db.execute(
+        "select sql from sqlite_master where name='idx_dogs_age_name'"
+    ).fetchone()[0]
+    assert sql == (
+        "CREATE INDEX [idx_dogs_age_name]\n" "    ON [dogs] ([age] desc, [name])"
+    )
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "data_structure",
     (