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Glite Dictionary
🚢 Going underwater 😨 Sudden anxiety 📉 Gradual decline
sinking

sinking

3 4.4
A slow fall in strength, value, or mood
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪŋkɪŋ/
translation icon : descenso
  • One caring remark sometimes can make the difference between sinking, giving up, and finding the courage to go on.
  • sinking ratings
  • sinking profits
  • sinking ship

One caring remark sometimes can make the difference between sinking, giving up, and finding the courage to go on.

Examples

  • Many rats are leaving the sinking ship, IMO.

    Blog text (33)

  • His sinking will take its time.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Sure, sinking might not be the best description of Apple at the moment.

    Blog text (24)

  • It is time for both fresh ideas and new leadership to come forth, because without it, our society is on sinking sand.

  • Since then, the rate of sinking has stabilized at about 6 centimeters per year (cm/year) in the central area.

    Academic text (1997)

  • For example, excavations at the Sagrario (a church adjacent to the city's cathedral) tried to stop the sinking that threatens the colonial building's survival.

    Academic text (2008)

  • The company's sinking profits forced them to reduce their workforce.

  • After several months of sinking sales, the store decided to close its doors for good.

  • He expressed concern about the sinking value of his investments in the stock market.

Synonyms

ebb
vssinking
6 6.5

A gradual fall in strength, power, or public interest

is the general gradual fall in strength, position, or value
ebbing
vssinking
1 6.7

A slow decrease in strength, amount, or intensity

covers the same gradual decline but includes position and value too
downslide
vssinking
1 5.1

A period when something gets worse

is the gradual decline in strength, position, or value rather than general worsening
falling
vssinking
1.8

Becoming lower in amount or value

emphasizes a slow, continuous decline rather than any decrease of any speed

Antonyms

improvement
619 1.1

A change that makes something better

Idioms

to jump on a sinking ship
  • Informal
8.3

To join a business or project that is likely to fail even though there are clear risks

Compounds

sinking ship
  • Informal
10 4.8

A project or organization that is failing and likely to collapse

sinking feeling
  • Informal
9 4.5

A sudden strong worry that something bad will happen

sinking fund
  • Specialized
1 7.2

Money set aside over time to pay back a debt or cover a large cost

sinking spell
8.9

A short time when you feel weak, faint, or very low

How Severe

collapse
350 4.1
to slump
16 4.1
sinking
3 4.4
decline
439 3.9
to dip
47 2.5

Surface Forms

sinking singular
sinkings plural

Morphology

sinking = sink (semi-transparent) = sink + ing

Formed from 'sink' + '-ing' but used abstractly to mean decline or loss (e.g., an economy), a metaphorical extension of the physical downward movement.

Etymology

Sinking comes from the old English verb sink, 'to go down', and we use that picture for a slow fall in strength, position, or value. So the sinking of energy, profits, or morale means they are gradually getting lower.