Idioms and expressions about feeling sad

An idiom is an expression with a meaning that is different to the literal meaning of its words.

An idiom’s real meaning is therefore different to its literal meaning.

In this lesson, you will learn 5 English expressions / idioms about feeling sad.

to be “down in the dumps”

Meaning:
to be sad and upset about something.
to be depressed.

Examples:
Why are you down in the dumps? What’s wrong?
David seems down in the dumps today. Is he ok?
Mark is down in the dumps because he has failed his exams.

your heart sinks

Meaning:
to suddenly feel very disappointed and discouraged.

Examples:
My heart sank when Jane told me that she wants a divorce.
Jane’s heart sank when she found out that she had lost her job.
His heart sank when he received the invoice for $20,000

The verb SINK is irregular. Here is its form:

past participle: sunk
past form: sank

Example using the past participle in the present perfect tense:
His heart has sunk.

to have a lump in one’s throat

Meaning:
to have a tight feeling in one’s throat because you are sad and emotional.

The real meaning is close to the literal meaning. Notice when you are very sad and you are almost crying, your throat hurts. Your throat feels very tight just before you start crying. Well that is the origin of this English expression.

Examples:
The film was very sad. I had a lump in my throat when the dog died.
I had a lump in my throat when she told me that she is ill.
David often has a lump in his throat when he thinks about the past.

to cry one’s eyes out

Meaning:
to cry a lot

Examples:
I cried my eyes out at the funeral.
Mrs Smith cried her eyes out when her cat died.
Mark always cries his eyes out when he hears that song.