down in the dumps
"down-in-the-dumps" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“down in the dumps” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 17
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sad; lacking engagement or enthusiasm.
Corpus desk
Index EN-down-in-the-dumps · down in the dumps · English
down in the dumps · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 17 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | down in the dumps |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “down in the dumps” in English
Rare enough to double-check
down in the dumps is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Sad; lacking engagement or enthusiasm.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for down in the dumps in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From dump “a dull, gloomy state of the mind.” The correct English form is down in the dumps, spelled D-O-W-N- -I-N- -T-H-E- -D-U-M-P-S.
Definition
- 1Sad; lacking engagement or enthusiasm.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how down in the dumps appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"You've got down in the dumps and can't see what's sensible and to your own advantage."
"Being out of work sometimes makes you feel down in the dumps and being out here with my buddies helps."
Etymology
From dump “a dull, gloomy state of the mind.”
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.