rock bottom
35
4.4
- noun
- /rɑk ˈbɑtəm/
- Informal
:
fondo
- Sometimes you have to reach rock bottom before you can bring real change.
- hit rock bottom
Is there such a thing as a rock bottom for a narcissist?
- Is there such a thing as a rock bottom for a narcissist?
- The once prosperous Kingdom had reached rock bottom, but that was all about to change.
- And Howard said to me, my rock bottom was low.
- It's breaking myself down to the absolute rock bottom and being able to tell people who I am.
- That with opioid addiction, there is no such rock bottom.
- And so, you know, to have that happen, it was rock bottom for sure because I went home.
- The significance of the All is Lost moment is in hitting rock bottom.
- In denial, as a lot of people are before they hit their sort of rock bottom in a sense.
- And that still wasn't rock bottom of me being a piece of.
- I had many, many, many, what I thought were my emotional rock bottoms dozens.
Examples
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After losing his job and facing personal challenges, he finally admitted he had hit rock bottom.
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But the question she had was really what gets people to that sort of rock bottom moment?
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Is it that people need to have reached a rock bottom to come seek help?
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And so, you know, to have that happen, it was rock bottom for sure because I went home.
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Yeah, I think like you said there, a lot of people are waiting for a rock bottom moment.
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And then I thought to myself, maybe being at rock bottom is actually the perfect place to start.
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For somebody who has like rock bottom self worth, where do you begin?
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I reached rock bottom about five years ago.
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So both of these experiences represented total rock bottom moments in my life.
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Does a person have to hit rock bottom before they're ready to listen?
Blog text (8)
Synonyms
130
1.0
The point when something is at its smallest level
The lowest point something can reach
The lowest or worst point in a situation
Antonyms
How Low
Surface Forms
Morphology
The component 'bottom' clearly signals a lowest point, and 'rock' contributes a metaphorical sense of solidity/intensity, so the overall idea of an absolute low point is partly recoverable from the parts. However, the idiomatic force (the sense of the definitive/worst possible level and its conventional use in contexts like finances or life) is somewhat conventional and may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Rock bottom may come from miners digging underground. When they hit the rock at the bottom, they could not dig any lower, so the phrase now means the 'lowest possible level' in life, money, or feelings.