slough of despond

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ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.slough of despond - (formal) extreme depression
formality - compliance with formal rules; "courtroom formality"
References in classic literature ?
For all men life is indeed a journey, and the Slough of Despond, Doubting Castle, Vanity Fair, and the Valley of Humiliation are places where in one sense or another every human soul has often struggled and suffered; so that every reader goes hand in hand with Christian and his friends, fears for them in their dangers and rejoices in their escapes.
While stumbling through this Slough of Despond, he was called to Washington by his patent lawyer.
So, the Bride had mounted into her handsome chariot, incidentally accompanied by the Bridegroom; and after rolling for a few minutes smoothly over a fair pavement, had begun to jolt through a Slough of Despond, and through a long, long avenue of wrack and ruin.
United were in the slough of despond under Jose Mourinho when the draw was made on December 17 - the day before the tarnished Special One was sacked.
From the slough of despond that Friday's news plunged me, I can see only deeper darkness and darker dangers.
"As we come out of the Slough of Despond in directed energy into an environment that is more welcoming of our contributions, we should not lose our way with some of the other [directed energy] technologies that were pioneered in the '80s and the early '90s and now stand available for renewed effort," he said, making reference to the deep bog in John Bunyan's allegory Pilgrim's Progress.
I can see how some individuals might fall into a Slough of Despond at this precise time of year.