What it means
A bad patch is a spell of difficulty or misfortune, a stretch where things keep going wrong before they pick up again. Much like a rough patch, it is the slump you are stuck in for a while: a slump in form, a run of money trouble, a low point in your health or spirits. Going through a bad patch acknowledges the trouble while quietly assuming it will pass.
Usage examples
"After a bad patch with injuries, the striker is finally scoring again."
"She is going through a bad patch at work, nothing seems to go right."
"The local pub went through a bad patch after the new chain opened two streets over, half the regulars left, but the landlord pulled it back with the quiz nights on Tuesday."
"She is going through a bad patch with her writing this season, sat at the desk for three months without finishing a chapter, the editor sent flowers last week and a kind email."
"He'd been in a bad patch since Christmas, skint, knackered, the lot, but he's starting to look like himself again."
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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