doldrums

[ dohl-druhmz, dol-, dawl- ]

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noun(used with a plural verb)

a state of inactivity or stagnation, as in business or art: August is a time of doldrums for many enterprises.
the doldrums,
- a belt of calms and light baffling winds north of the equator between the northern and southern trade winds in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
- the weather prevailing in this area.

a dull, listless, depressed mood; low spirits.

Origin of doldrums

First recorded in 1795–1805; obsolete dold stupid (see dolt) + -rum(s) (plural) noun suffix (see tantrum)

Other words for doldrums

3	depression, gloom, melancholy, dejection

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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 | Quartz
His successor, the first George Bush was at a loss about how to respond to the economic doldrums of the early 1990s.
100 Years of Right (And Left) Moves | Robert Shrum | March 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
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 BEAST
But 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 BEAST
Here'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 BEAST
Both 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 Kelleam
A low-pressure area of calm, light variable winds near the equator is known to mariners as the doldrums.
Deserts | A. S. Walker
Our vegetables gave out and we drank too much rain water and ate too much fresh fish down in the doldrums.
Captain Scraggs | Peter B. Kyne
In 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

doldrums

/ (ˈdɒldrəmz) /

nounthe doldrums

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

C19: probably from Old English dol dull, influenced by tantrum

Collins 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

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.

Other Idioms and Phrases with doldrums

doldrums

see in the doldrums.

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