idiom · informal
down in the dumps
/daʊn ɪn ðə dʌmps/down·in·the·DUMPS
speakingtask2
feeling sad or depressed
Examples
“He's been down in the dumps since his dog died.”
“She felt down in the dumps after failing the interview.”
“During the rainy week he was really down in the dumps.”
Band 8 sentence
“After several rejections, she admitted she had been down in the dumps, but gradually regained her confidence.”
Collocations
- be down in the dumps about something
- feel/ be down in the dumps
Word family
in the doldrums idiomfeel blue idiom
Common mistakes
I'm down on the dumps→I'm down in the dumps
I'm down the dumps→I'm down in the dumps
Say it for a higher band
5sad→6depressed→7+down in the dumps
Synonyms
feel blue
in the doldrums
Easily confused
in the doldrums
“After the product launch failed, the company was in the doldrums for months.”
Related words
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In Emotions
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