Meanings
black dog1
- euphemisticDepression, melancholy.
Apologies, Miss Armstrong, the black dog has got me in its teeth.
2018, Kate Atkinson, Transcription, →ISBN, page 1114 more examples
A light seen suddenly in the storm, snow / Coming from all sides, like flakes / Of sleep, and myself / On the road to the dark barn, / Halfway there, a black dog near me
1967, Robert Bly, “Melancholia”, in The Light Around the BodyThere's a black dog on my shoulder again / I'm playing with it but it's gone to my head
1998, “Black Dog On My Shoulder”, in This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, performed by Manic Street PreachersI can't breathe, feed the black dog / Refuse to breathe, refuse to fuck
2014, “They Told Me It Rained”, in Carry On the Grudge, performed by Jamie TI take a jump off the fire escape / To make the black dog go away
2020, “Black Dog”, in AP1, performed by Arlo Parks
Black Dog2
- A small village in Washford Pyne parish and Woolfardisworthy parish, Mid Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS8009).
Origin
black dog · noun
A personification, attested from 1826. Popularized by Winston Churchill, although it is not clear if he specifically referred to mental health.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
black dog. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20dog
“black dog.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20dog. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “black dog,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/black%20dog.
Source: black dog on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.