at a low ebb

Idioms  

1. At a low point, in a state of decline or depression. For example, The current recession has put our business at a low ebb. This idiom transfers the low point of a tide to a decline in human affairs. [Mid-1600s]

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Example Sentences

U.S.-U.K. relations are at a low ebb, with a YouGov survey showing 64% of Britons hold a negative view of the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

The chemical makers have high forward price/earnings ratios because profitability is at a low ebb in the chemical cycle right now.

From Barron's • Nov. 25, 2025

It came at a time, too, when the search for life elsewhere in the Solar System was at a low ebb.

From Scientific American • Oct. 18, 2023

Despite those measures, China's new home prices fell for the fourth month in August, according to a private survey on Friday, as the property debt crisis kept confidence at a low ebb.

From Reuters • Sep. 7, 2023

Morale seemed to be at a low ebb for several of the expeditions at Camp Two.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer