verb phrase🎓 English idiom

hit rock bottom

to reach the lowest possible point

What it means

To hit rock bottom means to reach the lowest possible point in your life, circumstances, or emotional state, where things cannot get any worse. It often implies that the only way left to go is upward.

Examples

  • After losing his job and home, he felt he had hit rock bottom.
  • Sales hit rock bottom before the new manager turned things around.
  • She hit rock bottom emotionally before deciding to seek help.
  • When you hit rock bottom, the only way left is up.

Where it comes from

The expression draws on mining and well-digging imagery, where 'rock bottom' is the solid base beneath which you cannot dig any deeper; it spread in the 19th century.

Related idioms

#go down in flames#back to square one#kick the bucket#out of the frying pan into the fire

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