Jump To:

• slump
  slump

  verb (used without object)

  to drop or fall heavily; collapse.
• Slump
  Slump

  noun

  another name for the Depression

slump

American  

[sluhmp] / slʌmp /

verb (used without object)

• slumps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slumped,
  past participle,  past
• slumping
  present participle

1. to drop or fall heavily; collapse.

   Suddenly she slumped to the floor.

2. to assume a slouching, bowed, or bent position or posture.

   Stand up straight and don't slump!

3. to decrease or fall suddenly and markedly, as prices or the market.

4. to decline or deteriorate, as health, business, quality, or efficiency.

5. to sink into a bog, muddy place, etc., or through ice or snow.

6. to sink heavily, as the spirits.

---

noun

• slumps
  plural

1. an act or instance of slumping.

2. a decrease, decline, or deterioration.

   Synonyms:

   setback, reverse, lapse

3. a period of decline or deterioration.

4. any mild recession in the economy as a whole or in a particular industry.

5. a period during which a person performs slowly, inefficiently, or ineffectively, especially a period during which an athlete or team fails to play or score as well as usual.

6. a slouching, bowed, or bent position or posture, especially of the shoulders.

7. a landslide or rockslide.

8. the vertical subsidence of freshly mixed concrete that is a measure of consistency and stiffness.

9. New England Cooking. a dessert made with cooked fruit, especially apples or berries, topped with a thick layer of biscuit dough or crumbs.

slump ¹ British  

/ slʌmp /

verb

1. to sink or fall heavily and suddenly

2. to relax ungracefully

3. (of business activity, etc) to decline suddenly; collapse

4. (of health, interest, etc) to deteriorate or decline suddenly or markedly

5. (of soil or rock) to slip down a slope, esp a cliff, usually with a rotational movement

---

noun

1. a sudden or marked decline or failure, as in progress or achievement; collapse

2. a decline in commercial activity, prices, etc

3. economics another word for depression

4. the act of slumping

5. a slipping of earth or rock; landslide

Slump ² British  

/ slʌmp /

noun

1. another name for the Depression

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unslumped
  adjective
• unslumping
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• slumps
  plural

Participles

• slumping
  present
• slumped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• slump
  simple
• slumps
  simple
• have slumped
  perfect
• has slumped
  perfect
• am slumping
  progressive
• are slumping
  progressive
• is slumping
  progressive
• have been slumping
  perfect progressive
• has been slumping
  perfect progressive

Past

• slumped
  simple
• had slumped
  perfect
• was slumping
  progressive
• were slumping
  progressive
• had been slumping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will slump
  simple
• will have slumped
  perfect
• will be slumping
  progressive
• will have been slumping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of slump

1670–80; originally, to sink into a bog or mud; perhaps imitative ( cf. plump ²)

Explanation

To slump is to fall or slouch down. It's also a downturn in performance — a struggling ballplayer and a sinking economy are both in a slump. There are many kinds of slumps, but they all involve things going downhill. If you slide down in your chair, you slump. Other slumps are less physical. If a successful quarterback starts losing games and throwing interceptions, that's a slump. The original meaning of slump, back in the 1670s, was "fall or sink into a muddy place," while the more figurative meanings came much later.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slump Slump slumps slumped slumping

In the bottom half of the inning, Freeman, who was optimistic that he could shake off his September slump over the bye week, tied the score with a homer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

Holiday spending on travel and services offers a gauge of consumer demand, which remains weak amid a persistent property slump and subdued confidence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

IBM stock rebounds from a five-day slump after Accenture’s solid earnings signal resilience in tech consulting amid AI disruption fears.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

However, in many of the drawdowns identified by RBC, the sudden slump in stocks was preceded by highly bullish investor sentiment, and this is nowhere apparent today.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

I didn't join them, but their silly dancing definitely helped with the process of pulling me out of my second-place slump.

From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds

Stock Slump: Mark Zuckerberg offered fresh details on Meta’s aggressive AI plans and addressed the market’s negative reaction to its earnings in a company meeting Thursday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026

Born in Nagoya, Japan in 1955, Mr Toriyama broke into the comic book world in the early 1980s with Dr. Slump, which tells the story of a little girl robot Arale and her scientist creator.

From BBC ● Mar. 8, 2024

His Dr Slump series that started in 1980 became a huge hit, elevating him to a best-selling young comic artist.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2024

He was expected to release a new mixtape with rapper Ski Mask the Slump God this year.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 8, 2019

"Well, well," said Ralph, his eyes opening wide as he recognized the disturbed sleeper; "Ike Slump again."

From Ralph in the Switch Tower by Allen Chapman

She slumps over a cloth in the arms of a caretaker with her eyes closed, but rouses when another person brings her what appears to be raw meat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

Plus, Nasdaq slumps as AI doubts spoil SK Hynix’s big U.S. debut.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

Analysts attributed slumps in Tesla sales in 2025 to be partly due to customers turning against Musk.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

Too wet and it slumps into mush territory.

From Salon ● May 25, 2026

Exhausted from the effort, Mom slumps down onto the pavement, panting.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

I want onions slumped and browned at the edges.

From Salon ● Sep. 28, 2026

In contrast, Germany’s Volkswagen recorded a 3.6% decline in sales to 210,818 units, while Renault’s slumped 4.4% to 71,906 vehicles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

"His friend slumped and fainted, and many others also collapsed."

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Since stores’ private-label fare sells for less than nationally marketed offerings, shoppers, historically, have flocked to them whenever the economy slumped, and away from them when the economy strengthened.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Ivan stood with slumped shoulders, and Håkon kept inspecting his torn skin beneath the bandage around his arm.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

Even the slumping Freddie Freeman contributed to the Dodgers’ 11-hit attack, ending an 0-for-11 slide with a broken-bat single in the fourth then singling again in the eighth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026

Buffett is stepping down at a time when Berkshire has raised eyebrows for its slumping stock price and a roughly $365 billion mountain of cash it held by the end of the second quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

With Itauma barely able to stand, his legs unsteady and body swaying before slumping in the corner, his team threw in the towel.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

Companies are pouring billions of dollars into the technology, sparking a revival among slumping American manufacturers.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

We felt like slumping in despair in our seats.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• collapse
• deteriorate
• droop
• drop
• fall
• fall off
• go down
• hunch
• plummet
• plunge
• sag
• slide
• slip
• slouch
• tumble