locust years

plural noun

British.

1. years of economic hardship.

Word History and Origins

Origin of locust years¹

First recorded in 1948; coined by Winston Churchill (on the basis of the Bible verse Joel 2:25) to describe the years 1931–35 in Britain

Example Sentences

For a long time they were known as "the devil's decade", "the locust years", when unemployment shot through the roof, fascism gathered momentum abroad and the political classes betrayed the hopes of a generation.

Read more on The Guardian

Nonetheless, argues Macleod, "it is not at Munich but at the locust years, 1934 and 1935, that the finger of criticism should be pointed."

Read more on Time Magazine Archive

Yet he became enmeshed in the red-state-vs.-blue-state, hot-button, wedge-issue, 50%-plus-one formula that has dominated and degraded our politics in these locust years of racial, regional and cultural polarization.

Read more on Time Magazine Archive