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doldrums.

Usually preceded by the: a state of apathy or lack of interest; a situation where one feels boredom, ennui, or tedium; a state of listlessness or malaise.

8 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈdɒldɹəmz/Received-Pronunciation/ˈdɑldɹəmz/General-American
  1. Usually preceded by the: a state of apathy or lack of interest; a situation where one feels boredom, ennui, or tedium; a state of listlessness or malaise.

    plural · plural-only
    I was in the doldrums yesterday and just didn’t feel inspired.
  2. Usually preceded by the: the state of a sailing ship when it is impeded by calms or light, baffling winds, and is unable to make progress.

    plural · plural-only
  3. Usually preceded by the: a part of the ocean near the equator where calms, squalls, and light, baffling winds are common.

    broadly · plural · plural-only
Where this word comes from

From obsolete doldrum (“slothful or stupid person”) plus the plural suffix -s. Doldrum is possibly derived from dull or Middle English dold (past participle of dullen, dollen (“to make or become blunt or dull; to make or become dull-witted or stupid; to make or become inactive”), from dul, dol, dolle (“not sharp, blunt, dull; not quick-witted, stupid; lethargic, sluggish”); see further at dull), modelled after tantrum.

noun/ˈdɒldɹəmz/Received-Pronunciation/ˈdɑldɹəmz/General-American
  1. plural of doldrum (“slothful or stupid person”)

    form-of · obsolete · plural
Where this word comes from

From obsolete doldrum (“slothful or stupid person”) plus the plural suffix -s. Doldrum is possibly derived from dull or Middle English dold (past participle of dullen, dollen (“to make or become blunt or dull; to make or become dull-witted or stupid; to make or become inactive”), from dul, dol, dolle (“not sharp, blunt, dull; not quick-witted, stupid; lethargic, sluggish”); see further at dull), modelled after tantrum.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.