LOW SPIRITS

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does low spirits mean? 

• LOW SPIRITS (noun)
  The noun LOW SPIRITS has 1 sense:

1. a state of mild depression

  Familiarity information: LOW SPIRITS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LOW SPIRITS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A state of mild depression

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("low spirits" is a kind of...):

depression (a mental state characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "low spirits"):

dumps; mopes (an informal expression for a mildly depressed state)

Antonym:

high (a state of sustained elation)

 Context examples 

Elinor saw, with great uneasiness the low spirits of her friend.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

A question about whether an individual is or has been in low or very low spirits.

(Have You Been in Low or Very Low Spirits, NCI Thesaurus)

“Oh, you are in low spirits, Mr. Micawber,” said Traddles.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Was it all self-pity, loneliness, or low spirits?

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient say, or act as if he/she is sad or in low spirits?

(NPI - Say, or Act as if He/She is Sad or in Low Spirits, NCI Thesaurus)

Well, I thought over the matter all day, and by evening I was in low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its object might be I could not imagine.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is not probable, I consider, that Mr. James would encourage the receipt of letters likely to increase low spirits and unpleasantness; but further than that, sir, I should wish to avoid going.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Elinor answered in some distress that she was, and then talked of head-aches, low spirits, and over fatigues; and of every thing to which she could decently attribute her sister's behaviour.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Peggotty was naturally in low spirits at leaving what had been her home so many years, and where the two strong attachments of her life—for my mother and myself—had been formed.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Taking his hands from the seat, and placing one of them within the other, as he settled himself on one leg, Mr. Littimer proceeded, with his eyes cast down, and his respectable head a little advanced, and a little on one side: The young woman went on in this manner for some time, being occasionally low in her spirits, until I think she began to weary Mr. James by giving way to her low spirits and tempers of that kind; and things were not so comfortable.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)