limbo
47
6.3
- noun
- /ˈlɪmboʊ/
:
limbo
- After losing his job, he felt like he was living in limbo, unsure of what to do next.
- remain in limbo
- live in limbo
- still in limbo
So in that, like, limbo time, be like, am I OK?
- So in that, like, limbo time, be like, am I OK?
- And so Cloddick, for two weeks, is in a sort of limbo.
- What do I do during this limbo time?
- Well, I mean, you're going to be constantly caught up in this limbo of, of justifying the things that we hold onto.
- So all of his money, all of his financial resources were in limbo.
- So I was like, I was kind of in limbo.
- How does it make you feel, though, as an Afghan whose countrymen and women are presently living in limbo and refugee camps in Pakistan?
- And so we had to, and, and one of the bills still has, is still in limbo.
- But, you know, it was still like this period of like a month where I was like in limbo.
Examples
-
Havar, who has two children, said her family has been living in limbo for almost a year.
-
I am not proud of my ignorance, or happy about the intellectual limbo of contemporary humanistic study.
Academic text (1999) -
Some of us had already arrived and spent the day at the airport in limbo, waiting.
-
We're in complete limbo now.
-
The result, though, is that more kids remain in limbo as their parents wait for help.
Academic text (2003) -
I know, but he can't live in limbo forever.
-
But the majority enter a legal limbo, overstaying their visas.
Academic text (2002) -
Indian land claims have similarly remained in legal limbo, much to the dismay of Indians, municipal, and state governments.
Academic text (2005) -
I'm in limbo.
-
Economic nexus viability is in limbo due to the ongoing litigation in Alabama and South Dakota.
Academic text (2017)
Synonyms
37
6.8
To be in a situation where the result is not decided, for example a job or game
35
3.5
A time when movement or activity stops completely
27
7.2
Waiting without a clear decision or result
12
8.1
Not moving or changing for a time
5
8.2
A situation with little change because two sides balance each other
1
8.9
A period when something is not decided and people wait for a decision, often in court cases
1
7.8
A situation with no decision or guidance that leaves people unsure
Antonyms
Idioms
Compounds
- Specialized
A tropical tree with smooth red bark that gives a sticky resin used for varnish
How Suspended
Surface Forms
Etymology
Limbo comes from the Latin limbus, which means 'edge' or 'border'. Imagine standing on the edge between two places with no movement forward or back; that's why limbo now means a state where things are waiting or undecided.