doldrums
a state of inactivity or stagnation, as in business or art: August is a time of doldrums for many enterprises.
the doldrums,
the weather prevailing in this area.
a dull, listless, depressed mood; low spirits.
Origin of doldrums
1Other words for doldrums
Words Nearby doldrums
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use doldrums in a sentence
The prospects for geothermal—energy extracted from the nuclear furnace at the Earth’s core—are rising after decades in the doldrums.
This is the year oil companies finally invest in geothermal | Michael J. Coren | January 19, 2021 | QuartzHis successor, the first George Bush was at a loss about how to respond to the economic doldrums of the early 1990s.
But the Republicans have the greatest opportunity to offer an alternate economic vision to the Obama doldrums.
Government Shutdown Melodrama Won’t Matter on Election Day 2016 | Stuart Stevens | September 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut in these scorching summer doldrums of 2013, you have to wonder: did it have to be this disappointing?
Hope Isn’t Enough: Without Conviction or Destination, Obama Flounders | Stuart Stevens | July 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHere's something to chew on while I'm gone: what if the current doldrums are the new normal?
Don't Have Enough to Worry About? Here's One More Thing: Low Growth May be Here to Stay. | Megan McArdle | March 4, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
The campaign will now stagger through the February doldrums.
Money Changed Everything for Mitt Romney in Florida Primary | Paul Begala | February 1, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTBoth got in the doldrums near the Start mark, but taking a chill 'Navahoe' got away with a long lead.
Yachting Vol. 2 | Various.Oh, well, there was no sense in staying in the doldrums forever.
Hunters Out of Space | Joseph Everidge KelleamA low-pressure area of calm, light variable winds near the equator is known to mariners as the doldrums.
Deserts | A. S. WalkerOur vegetables gave out and we drank too much rain water and ate too much fresh fish down in the doldrums.
Captain Scraggs | Peter B. KyneIn the calm, windless doldrums, he never came up on deck but what the aroma of whisky travelled with him.
The Viking Blood | Frederick William Wallace
British Dictionary definitions for doldrums
/ (ˈdɒldrəmz) /
a depressed or bored state of mind
a state of inactivity or stagnation
a belt of light winds or calms along the equator
the weather conditions experienced in this belt, formerly a hazard to sailing vessels
Origin of doldrums
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for doldrums
[ dōl′drəmz′ ]
A region of the globe found over the oceans near the equator in the intertropical convergence zone and having weather characterized variously by calm air, light winds, or squalls and thunderstorms. Hurricanes originate in this region.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with doldrums
see in the doldrums.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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