sinking feeling

sinking feeling

A feeling of dread indicating that something bad has happened or is about to happen. As soon as I met him, I got a sinking feeling that he had bad intentions. When I heard about the plane crash, I had a sinking feeling that my friends were on that flight.
See also: feeling, sink
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

*sinking feeling

the feeling that everything is going wrong; a bad feeling in the base of one's stomach. (*Typically: get ~; have ~; give someone ~.) I get a sinking feeling whenever I think of the night of the accident.
See also: feeling, sink
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

sinking feeling, a

A sense of dread or apprehension, as in I had a sinking feeling that I'd forgotten my ticket. This expression employs sink in the sense of "become depressed," a usage dating from the early 1600s.
See also: sink
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

a sinking feeling

COMMON If you have a sinking feeling, you suddenly feel that something bad has happened or is likely to happen. I began to have a sinking feeling that I was not going to get rid of her. I've got a sinking feeling that eight months work has just been lost.
See also: feeling, sink
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

a (or that) sinking feeling

an unpleasant feeling caused by the realization that something unpleasant or undesirable has happened or is about to happen.
See also: feeling, sink
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

(get/have) a/that ˈsinking feeling

(informal) a feeling that something bad has happened/is going to happen: Most people know that sinking feeling you get when a bill arrives in the post.
See also: feeling, sink, that
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

sinking feeling, a

A sense of distress, often perceived in one’s midsection. This term, which dates from the late nineteenth century, alludes to feeling hungry, frightened, or discouraged. About 1920 an advertising slogan for Bovril, a brand of beef extract touted as a restorative, was, “Bovril prevents that sinking feeling.”
See also: sink
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • a sinking feeling
  • a/that sinking feeling
  • sinking feeling, a
  • story of my life, the
  • (it's/that's the) story of my life
  • it's the story of my life
  • have a bad opinion of (someone or something)
  • have a good, bad, high, low, etc. opinion of somebody/something
  • be downhill all the way
  • downhill all the way
References in periodicals archive
Anyone who has alcoholic parents can relate to Daniel's sinking feeling when he's handed coins for the pinball machine as his dad makes his habitual beeline for the bar.
Lychack, William. The Wasp Eater
In that not-so-far-off future, residents of many more regions will come to know the sinking feeling that people in Louisiana's bayou country have had for decades.
Muddy waters: more sediment is entering rivers, but less makes its way to the sea
EASTENDER Alfie Moon got that sinking feeling on the log flume - or should that be log FUME.
ALFIE FLUME; Shane soaked on big dipper; EastEnder favourite hangs on tight for white knuckle ride
They don't like the sinking feeling that Pat Robertson is working with President George W.
Pat and separation: an amazing conversion by Reverend Robertson? (Perspective)
There's a feeling you get when you look to the west: that sinking feeling brought on by tract housing in the desert, suburban strip malls, Disneyland/Hollywood, military/industrial complexes, and mustachioed cops.
Deitch projects: Martin Kersels. (Reviews)
A sinking feeling, mostly, and a somewhat desperate search for the mist-shrouded iceberg that will sink us all.
Boom and Gloom
A sinking feeling overwhelmed me as I saw row upon row of policy and procedure manuals.
Politicians causing "more than minimal harm." (health care)
Desnard said: "I left for work each day with a desperate, sinking feeling. I would often break down in tears.
Manager sues his firm over 'boring' work
Sinking feeling PLANS to re-allocate certain water abstraction licences from rivers or aquifers have alarmed a landowners group.
Sinking feeling PLANS; ROUNDUP
Who can forget that sinking feeling in both the 1998 and 1999 finals when you realised we were beaten within the first five minutes.
No tears at Cup exit
| SINKING FEELING: Town react to Dyer's strike in 2008
Dyer delivers - again
The weather, of course, played a big part in dictating proceedings, with grass veterans like Katherine Jenkins opting for wedges to avoid that sinking feeling.
dressed in thedark
Sinking feeling: Cars struggle in a flooded road in Solihull close to the Shirley Aqueduct.
STORM CHAOS; [bar] Floods as 10 days' worth of rain falls in 12 hours [bar] Gales bring down trees, causing road & rail misery No-go: A fallen tree blocks the road on High Street, Solihull Lodge, yards from Peterbrook School
Locke said: "In that boardroom I felt a sinking feeling as I felt Lord Sugar looking at Stuart with a kind of admiration - a bit like he saw him as a mini Sugar.
It's a Locke-out as Sugar axes favourite Liz
MY WEEK Punting high Getting with all-the-way Kempton winner Line Artic, who completed an across-the-card double for jockey Liam Heard (underused and deserves more opportunities to showcase his talents) Punting low Backing everything in running bar Leggy Lad in a maiden hurdle at Naas and getting that sinking feeling looking up at my position to see a thick block of red next to Stephen McConville's seven-year-old Taking the bait I can't believe Binocular has made my Champion Hurdle portfolio, falling for him hook, line and sinker after hearing upbeat reports Backhanded compliment It was nice to meet Galway's answer to Jedward on Monday night, who upon introducing themselves said: "Ah, Matt, we are big fans of the column, but you're not as good as that Tom Segal or Donn McClean.
MY WEEKPunting high Getting with [...]