heartsink moment
- noun
- Informal
:
momento de desánimo
- Opening the letter from the university brought a heartsink moment as I read the rejection.
Examples
-
The news of the layoffs was a real heartsink moment for the employees.
-
When I saw the exam results, it felt like a heartsink moment.
-
I had a heartsink moment when I realized I had lost my passport at the airport.
-
There was a heartsink moment for the team when the final score was announced.
-
I had a heartsink moment when I realized I had lost my passport at the airport.
-
Opening the letter from the university brought a heartsink moment as I read the rejection.
-
There was a heartsink moment for the team when the final score was announced.
Synonyms
1
4.1
A sudden sharp feeling of sadness
How Disappointed
176
7.0
2
7.3
- Informal
223
1.7
27
3.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
heartsink + moment
The phrase builds on the familiar metaphor 'one's heart sinks' (heart = feelings; sink = drop), so a learner who knows 'heart', 'sink' (to fall) and 'moment' can partly infer a sudden feeling of disappointment or dread. However, the meaning is metaphorical and somewhat idiomatic rather than strictly compositional, so without prior exposure a B1 learner might not fully predict the exact emotional nuance.
Etymology
Heartsink moment may come from the image of your heart seeming to sink into your stomach when you hear bad news. That's why it means 'a sudden feeling of disappointment or dread'.