How to pronounce doldrums
American English pronunciation
DOHL-drumz
- IPA
- /ˈdoʊldɹəmz/
- Syllables
- DOHL · drumz (2 syllables, stress on the 1st)
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What doldrums means
Low spirits, when nothing feels fun
In a sentence: Rainy Mondays put the whole family in the doldrums.
Where it comes from: It comes from an old word, "doldrum," for a slow, lazy person.
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Another meaning
A calm, windless zone near the equator
In a sentence: The sailing ship drifted for weeks in the doldrums, waiting for a breeze.
Where it comes from: Sailors took the name from the older sense of feeling low and sluggish. It comes from doldrum, an old word for a dull, lazy person, possibly from dull and shaped like tantrum.
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