depress
Americanverb (used with object)
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depresses,
present (3rd person singular)
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depressed,
past participle, past
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depressing
present participle
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to make sad or gloomy; lower in spirits; deject; dispirit.
- Synonyms:
- sadden, discourage, dishearten
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to lower in force, vigor, activity, etc.; weaken; make dull.
-
to lower in amount or value.
-
to put into a lower position.
to depress the muzzle of a gun.
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to press down.
-
Music. to lower in pitch.
verb
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to lower in spirits; make gloomy; deject
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to weaken or lower the force, vigour, or energy of
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to lower prices of (securities or a security market)
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to press or push down
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to lower the pitch of (a musical sound)
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obsolete to suppress or subjugate
Synonym Usage
See oppress.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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depressibilitynoun
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overdepressverb (used with object)
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depressibleadjective
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undepressibleadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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depresssimple
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depressessimple
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have depressedperfect
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has depressedperfect
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am depressingprogressive
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are depressingprogressive
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is depressingprogressive
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have been depressingperfect progressive
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has been depressingperfect progressive
Past
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depressedsimple
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had depressedperfect
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was depressingprogressive
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were depressingprogressive
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had been depressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of depress
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English depressen, from Anglo-French, Old French depresser, from Latin dēpressus “pressed down” (past participle of dēprimere, equivalent to de- de- + -primere, combining form of premere “to press”); see pressure
Explanation
Depress means to lessen the activity or power of something. If you want to depress the spread of poverty, you need to find ways to slow it down, like by bringing education and skill-building resources into the poorest communities. The word depress comes from the Old French word depresser, meaning "put down by force." Depress can be used literally to describe something you push down, like when you depress the handle on a toaster to lower the bread. It can also describe a more figurative lowering, such as the lowering of a person's emotional state. Attending a funeral is likely to depress you, and watching a sad movie afterwards will just sink your spirits even more.
Vocabulary lists containing depress
Hatchet
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The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 4
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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.
See Examples For:
Authors of books with Jewish or Israeli characters say their titles are “review bombed” with 1-star on sites like Goodreads to depress interest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
A federal judge ordered an end to practices that depress ad rates for web publishers, but declined to order a divestiture of Google’s ad exchange.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
For those who have not been identified, negative feedback from adults and peers can further depress self-esteem.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
A sharp drop in gas prices in the first half of the month will depress the headline increase in the CPI.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Listen to the engine, depress the clutch, shift, gas, release, steer, check your mirrors, signal your turn, look twice for motorcycles.
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
"As a former police detective, it depresses me to see the state of crime and policing in our capital," Newman said.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
By funneling income and investment toward export industries and away from consumers, this depresses consumption and expands the current account surplus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
In the macro economy, uncertainty depresses economic activity, increases stock market volatility and reduces returns.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 27, 2026
“It is the duration of a shock, not its magnitude, that structurally depresses valuations,” he says.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
Next is a man named Gonzalo, who is wearing blue work pants and a Bugs Bunny T-shirt that’s probably from the nineties, which depresses me like few things can.
From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez
"It's understandable because GPs are often confronted with depressed patients and therefore they're very focused on diagnosing depression correctly," he said.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
However, the forecast predicts that AI investment will begin to produce job gains next year and in 2028, even as the cuts have depressed California’s jobs picture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
The funny thing is, it doesn’t just make you depressed about plastic surgery and sad women and sleazy TV executives.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026
Back then, depressed share prices gave these serial buyers of their own stock extra bang for the buck.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
He tells me I’m blessed; the genes are good on both sides, and if I think I’m depressed now, imagine if I knew I was going to lose my hair like everyone else!
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
While higher borrowing costs typically help tackle inflation by depressing demand in an economy, observers argue it won't do much to blunt the impacts of the current oil supply shock.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
Another resident, who did not want to be named, said it was a "depressing" situation.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
It’s rather depressing how many surprised people, upon meeting Simpson, are clearly delighted to do so; something in our “lizard brain” makes us react that way, says Mr. Mahr, and he’s on to something.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
“Then on Friday, I typically work from home because nobody’s in the office, and it’s depressing when there’s nobody there.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 29, 2026
The graveyard ceremony was just as depressing as everything else had been.
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
