- present participle of depress.
depressing
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of depressing
Explanation
Depressing things make you feel sad or inadequate, possibly because they serve as reminders of weaknesses or defects. For example, it can be depressing to be around a happy family when all your relatives are fighting with each other. If a friend acts as if something is depressing him, you might ask, "What's bringing you down?" In fact depress comes from the Latin word depremere, meaning "to press down." Depressing things make you feel like your spirits are low or your heart is heavy. Something depressing weighs you down, just as something happy tends to boost you or make you feel like you are flying high.
Vocabulary lists containing depressing
The Dead and the Gone
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Better Nate Than Ever
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Louder than Hunger
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Berkshire Hathaway is buying at a time when 6% mortgage rates are depressing housing activity and shares in the sector.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 1, 2026
“Next year,” we warned, “we’re likely to hear a lot of management commentary on how memory shortages are increasing costs and depressing sales.”
From Barron's • May 29, 2026
Entering into the job centres is really depressing.
From BBC • May 28, 2026
Like “The Man in the High Castle” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” before it, our depressing reality erased the distance between us and its fantasy.
From Salon • May 24, 2026
Ten days after my return to Cambridge, Herman forwarded the depressing news, which had been sent to my Copenhagen address.
From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
