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.
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to lower in amount or value.
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to put into a lower position.
to depress the muzzle of a gun.
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to press down.
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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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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:
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
Warsh even suggested that the Fed raising interest rates is just one tool to depress inflation, raising questions about what else he has in mind.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Crucially, the oil benchmark would likely creep higher than global oil prices, which would discourage foreign buyers, depress exports and make more crude available to domestic markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
Eventually, these strains could be enough to depress the economy, especially if interest rates keep rising.
From MarketWatch ● May 16, 2026
“Your polar bear facts are really starting to depress me.”
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
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
Jonny's prediction: It depresses me how good Sunderland are this season.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
This depresses me and makes me feel guilty, even though I told him not to hold back.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
"She started to lose a lot of weight, and she became very depressed, and she was having a really hard time," he said.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Research from Shu Cole, a professor at Indiana University’s School of Public Health, consistently shows that the farther people go, the less likely they are to report feeling depressed or isolated.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Some of the week’s economic gauges also painted a concerning picture of the market, including home-builder sentiment, which remains depressed and below the break-even level of 50 since April 2024.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
“I auditioned for it while I was working at Secret Cinema and I was incredibly depressed because I was auditioning and not getting anything,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The whole state depressed him, the blue lines representing highways that intersected towns whose names and destinies were mysteries to him.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
“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
There is a despondency now, with words like "depressing" and "empty" peppering the conversation.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
They aren’t living drab or depressing lives when the Guardians of the Universe activate them — they’re faring pretty well, all things considered.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
Poultry companies are producing more chicken than consumers can buy, depressing wholesale prices and squeezing their profits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Monod’s visit to California had not been particularly fruitful—he had spent most of his time playing Bach with the local orchestra and learning Dixie and jazz—but Paris was utterly depressing, a city under siege.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
