doldrums [L18th] To most people the doldrums refers to a state or period of stagnation or depression, but to sailors it is an equatorial region of the Atlantic Ocean with calms, sudden storms, and light unpredictable winds. For sailing ships, being becalmed in the doldrums was a serious occupational hazard. The earliest form of the word, in the late 18th century, was singular doldrum, and it meant ‘a dull, sluggish, or stupid person’. It may come from dull, which originally meant ‘stupid’ [OE].