to drop or fall heavily; collapse.
Suddenly she slumped to the floor.
to assume a slouching, bowed, or bent position or posture.
Stand up straight and don't slump!
to decrease or fall suddenly and markedly, as prices or the market.
to decline or deteriorate, as health, business, quality, or efficiency.
to sink into a bog, muddy place, etc., or through ice or snow.
to sink heavily, as the spirits.
an act or instance of slumping.
a decrease, decline, or deterioration.
a period of decline or deterioration.
any mild recession in the economy as a whole or in a particular industry.
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.
a slouching, bowed, or bent position or posture, especially of the shoulders.
a landslide or rockslide.
the vertical subsidence of freshly mixed concrete that is a measure of consistency and stiffness.
New England Cooking. a dessert made with cooked fruit, especially apples or berries, topped with a thick layer of biscuit dough or crumbs.
to sink or fall heavily and suddenly
to relax ungracefully
(of business activity, etc) to decline suddenly; collapse
(of health, interest, etc) to deteriorate or decline suddenly or markedly
(of soil or rock) to slip down a slope, esp a cliff, usually with a rotational movement
a sudden or marked decline or failure, as in progress or achievement; collapse
a decline in commercial activity, prices, etc
economics another word for depression
the act of slumping
a slipping of earth or rock; landslide
1670–80; originally, to sink into a bog or mud; perhaps imitative ( cf. plump 2)
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A prolonged slump in China’s crude buying might be nearing an end, removing a key cushion for the global oil market just as renewed U.S.-Iran tensions put Gulf supplies at risk once again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
A years-long crisis in the property sector and a persistent slump in domestic spending have left leaders reliant on exports to meet growth targets.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Separate data released on Wednesday highlighted the economic challenges Beijing is facing at home - including a long-running property market slump and weak consumer spending.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
The Sparks haven’t made the playoffs since 2020 and have made some controversial moves while trying to snap out of the slump.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
I slump, putting my elbows on the table and my chin in my hands.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
Appeared in the June 25, 2026, print edition as 'Oil Slump Deepens And Tech Stocks Struggle'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 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
I went back to town, saw your railroad detective, told him Ike Slump was on the scene, and he is looking for him with a warrant for stealing those brass fittings from the roundhouse.
From Ralph in the Switch Tower by Chapman, Allen
Analysts attributed slumps in Tesla sales in 2025 to be partly due to customers turning against Musk.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
The study, tracking 1.3 million professionals since 2000, indicates early-career slumps often lead to stalls affecting lifetime earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Too wet and it slumps into mush territory.
From Salon ● May 25, 2026
In the park, a sunburned figure itches an arm cast; another slumps on a bench, picking at his eyes.
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
Jade makes a whining noise and slumps her shoulders.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
The stock had slumped 46% in the past year through Thursday’s close.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026
Reid points out, because “Japanese inflation has been relatively low globally, while its currency slumped, Japan now stands out among its developed market peers as being extremely cheap when converting to dollars .”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
Spending on youth services by local authorities in England has slumped by 73% since 2010 according to the latest data from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Germany’s machine-tools exports to China slumped by around one-third in the first quarter from a year earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
Velia slumped back in her seat and crossed her arms.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
China’s auto sales remained weak in June, with retail sales of passenger cars slumping 20.2% in the first half, reflecting subdued and cooling demand after years of rapid expansion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
That can make it more difficult for the index to climb when shares of megacap companies are slumping, even if other stocks and sectors are performing well.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
It was hopes of a peace deal and a pullback in Treasury bond yields tied to those slumping crude prices and fading—finally—inflation pressures that gave the bump.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Trucking executives report an end to a long freight downturn, with rates rising to sustainable levels after four years of slumping earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Sohrab was wearing the plain white T-shirt and new denims I had bought him in Islamabad just before we’d left—the shirt hung loosely over his bony, slumping shoulders.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
