depressing
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- depressingly adverb
- nondepressing adjective
- nondepressingly adverb
- undepressing adjective
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.
The movie is simultaneously more depressing than the original and more saccharine, with a repellent amount of affection between characters who should know better.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026
Even more depressing was the fact that this situation was not unique to Britain, or to bats.
From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026
The narrative around Lululemon had been depressing in different ways leading up to the appointment of O’Neill, who takes the helm on on Sept. 8.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 25, 2026
There’s Mrs. Duggan’s sitting room, for example, with its “faint, high whistling of the gas fire”; and “the weary clatter of half-hearted washing-up” in a depressing cafe.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
With that thought she woke up completely, the memory of the last several months flooding back into her with depressing efficiency.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
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.
