sinking
Dropping below surface
Sinking describes downward movement through a medium—a ship sinking beneath waves, feet sinking into mud, the sun sinking toward the horizon.
The word extends to gradual decline: sinking profits, sinking hopes.
A sinking feeling is that heavy sensation in the stomach when you sense something has gone wrong: I had a sinking feeling we'd missed our chance.
Falling steeply and fast
- droppingLetting something fall
- fallingMoving downward freely
- plungingDescending steeply and quickly
- descendingMoving downward
diving · nosediving · lowering · going down · submerging · settling · slipping · sliding
Putting fully underwater
- going underFailing or submerging
- strugglingExperiencing serious difficulty
- gaspingBreathing in sharp gulps
- flounderingStruggling clumsily, failing
waterlogged · immersion · engulfed · inundated · swamped · depths · waves · currents
Below the surface
- depreciationAsset value reduction over time
- devaluationLowering of currency worth
- lossesThings subtracted from standing
- bankruptcyLegal status when insolvent
insolvency · foreclosure · collapse · ruin · tanking · plummeting · nosediving · liquidation
Intense anticipatory fear
- despairTotal absence of hope
- hopelessnessState without hope
- dismayDistressed loss of courage
- forebodingFearful anticipation of harm
pit in stomach · heaviness · despondency · gloom · depression · deflated · crushed · crestfallen
Failing completely, sinking
- capsizingWatercraft inverting suddenly
- TitanicIll-fated 1912 vessel
- hullOuter covering or frame
- bowRespectful forward inclination
stern · wreckage · flotsam · jetsam · maritime · nautical · seabed · salvage
Becoming progressively worse
- failingFlaw in one's nature
- worseningBecoming more severe
- collapsingFalling inward suddenly
- crumblingBreaking down gradually
slumping · diminishing · waning · ebbing · faltering · tanking · plummeting · nosediving
plummeting
Falling steeply and fast
descending · diving · nosediving · lowering · going down · submerging · settling · slipping · sliding · tumbling
submerging
Putting fully underwater
- going underFailing or submerging
- strugglingExperiencing serious difficulty
- gaspingBreathing in sharp gulps
floundering · waterlogged · immersion · engulfed · inundated · swamped · depths · waves · currents · lifeguard
underwater
Below the surface
- depreciationAsset value reduction over time
- devaluationLowering of currency worth
- lossesThings subtracted from standing
bankruptcy · insolvency · foreclosure · collapse · ruin · tanking · plummeting · nosediving · liquidation · crash
dread
Intense anticipatory fear
- despairTotal absence of hope
- hopelessnessState without hope
- dismayDistressed loss of courage
foreboding · pit in stomach · heaviness · despondency · gloom · depression · deflated · crushed · crestfallen · disheartened
foundering
Failing completely, sinking
bow · stern · wreckage · flotsam · jetsam · maritime · nautical · seabed · salvage · torpedo
deteriorating
Becoming progressively worse
- failingFlaw in one's nature
- worseningBecoming more severe
- collapsingFalling inward suddenly
crumbling · slumping · diminishing · waning · ebbing · faltering · tanking · plummeting · nosediving · spiraling
- Kids Physicsmagnets, gravity, electricity, force, friction
- TitanicTitanic, RMS Titanic, iceberg, lifeboats, maiden voyage
- boat descriptorsseaworthy, sailing, motorized, anchored, moored
- burdensburden, load, onus, obligations, weight
- declinesdrop, decline, downtrend, downturn, downfall
- decliningdeclining, waning, fading, diminishing, decreasing
sinkingfloating
Staying atop liquid
buoyant · afloat · swimming · unsinkable · treading water
- sinking feelingAnxious gut premonition
- sinking inGradually being understood
- sinking shipVessel filling with water
- Titanic sinkingOcean liner's fatal collision
- ship sinkingVessel descending below water
- sinking fundAccumulated debt repayment savings