limbo

Language: en

🇬🇧 /ˈlɪmbəʊ/ 🇺🇸 /ˈlɪmboʊ/

📖 Definitions

  1. noun
    In Roman Catholic theology, a supposed region on the border of hell where the souls of unbaptized infants and righteous people who died before Christ's coming reside.; An uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state or condition of neglect or oblivion.; A West Indian dance in which the dancer bends backward to pass under a horizontal bar that is progressively lowered.

🔗 Details

Word forms

uncountable 3rd sing.: limbos Past: limboed Past part.: limboed Pres part.: limboing

Collocations

in limbolimbo dancelimbo statelimbo barstuck in limbo

Synonyms

purgatoryno man's landtwilight zonesuspenseuncertainty

Antonyms

certaintyresolution

Commonly confused

purgatory
EN: 'Purgatory' implies a state of suffering or punishment before redemption, while 'limbo' implies a state of neglect, uncertainty, or waiting without resolution.
limber
EN: 'Limber' means flexible or supple (adjective/verb), while 'limbo' is a state of uncertainty or a dance.

Spelling tips

EN: Do not confuse 'limbo' with 'limber' (flexible). The word 'limbo' has no common spelling traps.

💬 Examples

  1. Medieval theologians debated the nature of limbo and who might inhabit it.

  2. After the company's bankruptcy, hundreds of employees were left in limbo, unsure of their futures.

  3. She amazed the crowd at the party by doing the limbo under a bar set only two feet high.