drooping
/'dru:piɳ/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Adjective:
- Bending or hanging downward: Describes something that is curved or hanging down, often due to its own weight, structure, or lack of support.
- Weak or lacking in energy: Describes a state of being weak, exhausted, or dispirited, often reflected in posture or appearance.
Usage and Examples
- Describing plants or objects:
- The drooping branches of the willow tree brushed the surface of the pond.
- After a week without water, the plant's leaves became drooping and yellow.
- Describing people or animals (indicating tiredness or low spirits):
- She walked in with drooping shoulders after the long, difficult day.
- The dog's drooping ears and sad eyes made everyone feel sorry for it.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- "Drooping spirits": A state of feeling sad, discouraged, or dejected.
- The team's drooping spirits were lifted by their coach's inspiring speech.
- Used to describe something that is declining or losing strength over time.
- The drooping sales figures were a major concern for the company.
Variants and Related Words
- Droop (verb): To bend, sink, or hang down, often from tiredness or weakness.
- The flowers will droop if you don't put them in water soon.
- Droopily (adverb): In a drooping manner.
- The flag hung droopily from the mast on the windless day.
Synonyms
- Sagging: Hanging down loosely or unevenly.
- Wilting: (For plants) Becoming limp through heat, loss of water, or disease.
- Languid: Displaying a disinclination for physical exertion; slow and relaxed, but can imply a drooping posture.
- Pendulous: Hanging down loosely, especially used for branches or other flexible parts.
Antonyms
- Upright: Being in a vertical position.
- Perky: Lively and cheerful; often used to describe something that is not drooping.
- Erect: Rigidly upright or straight.
Related Phrases and Idioms
- "Drooping like a wilted flower": A simile describing someone or something that looks very tired, sad, or lacking vitality.
- After hearing the bad news, he sat in the chair, drooping like a wilted flower.
- While not a phrasal verb, the verb "to droop over" is sometimes used to emphasize something bending or hanging over another thing.
- Her hair drooped over the side of the hammock as she slept.
Adjective
- having branches or flower heads that bend downward
- nodding daffodils
- the pendulous branches of a weeping willow
- lilacs with drooping panicles of fragrant flowers
- hanging down (as from exhaustion or weakness)
- weak from exhaustion