slough of despond
1
9.9
- noun
- /slaʊ əv dɪˈspɒnd/
- Archaic
:
pozo de desesperación
- Contemplating the pre- or post-tenure road may sometimes send you into the slough of despond.
Examples
-
The image of the "slough of despond" comes from John Bunyan's 17th-century allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress.
Academic text (2011) -
But anyone sliding into a slough of despond should keep things in perspective.
Blog text (18) -
Some parents pull their children out of the moral and academic slough of despond that public education has now become in fact, and which it always was in principle, which is why it wanted money coerced out of voters.
Blog text (27) -
Larry Cheney was the pilot who steered the Chicagoans out of the slough of despond away from the tail end of the standing, and it was Larry's first game of the league season, too.
Blog text (8) -
After losing his job, he found himself in a slough of despond, feeling hopeless and trapped.
-
Many people struggle with a slough of despond during the winter months due to the lack of sunlight.
-
She tried to stay positive, but the constant setbacks pushed her deeper into a slough of despond.
Synonyms
210
3.5
A complete loss of hope
20
4.9
A deep, long-lasting feeling of sadness
4
8.3
A strong feeling of sadness and loss of hope after something bad
4
3.7
A very strong feeling of sadness after a great loss
3
7.6
A feeling of deep sadness and emptiness after being left alone
2
9.0
A very deep feeling of sadness with no hope
1
9.9
A deep feeling of sadness and quiet sorrow
A deep sadness that nothing can comfort
A feeling of deep sadness that nothing can comfort
A deep feeling of sadness about a loss
Antonyms
How Depressed
210
3.5
- Archaic
1
9.9
330
3.7
229
1.0
42
1.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
slough + of + despond
The phrase literally combines 'slough' (a bog or swamp) with 'despond' (hopelessness), so its meaning can be inferred as a 'bog of despair' — a figurative state that traps someone in deep sadness. Although the expression is somewhat literary and rare, its imagery is compositionally transparent, so a learner who knows the constituent words can derive the intended meaning.
Etymology
Slough of despond comes from John Bunyan's old story where a traveler sinks into a muddy bog called the slough because of despond, a word for 'deep sadness'. That image of being stuck in a swamp helps explain why the phrase means 'a state of deep sadness that is hard to escape'.