in limbo

1. In a condition of oblivion or neglect, as in They kept her application in limbo for months . [Early 1600s]

2. An intermediate or transitional state, as in After his editor left the firm, his book was in limbo . [Early 1600s] Both usages allude to the theological meaning of limbo , that is, a place outside hell and heaven to which unbaptized infants and the righteous who died before Christ's coming were traditionally consigned.

Example Sentences

Although some felt they'd had closure, granddaughter AJ admitted feeling "in limbo" without a funeral.

Read more on BBC

While Judge Cobb’s decision dealt a blow to the IRS, it also left the rules in limbo.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

These young strivers needed affordable living spaces, and bands such as Talking Heads “became figureheads of a major shift that was taking place in the cultural geography of New York,” Mr. Gould tells us, “toward a broad swath of derelict loft buildings, storefronts, and tenements whose future had remained in limbo until the city’s long-standing plans to build an elevated expressway through the heart of Lower Manhattan were finally abandoned in 1971.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They simply failed to realize how disrespected—and left in limbo—inviters felt with a “maybe.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Global supply chains are in limbo amid various and sundry trade-and-tariff wars.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal