depress
[dih-pres]
- to make sad or gloomy; lower in spirits; deject; dispirit.
- 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.
- to press down.
- Music. to lower in pitch.
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Origin of depress
Synonyms
See more synonyms for depress on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
4. raise, elevate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for depress
Contemporary Examples
It is not enough for him to go negative and depress enthusiasm for Cucinnelli; he must find a way to actively energize Dems.
They were part of a vast left-wing media conspiracy to depress GOP turnout.
So they depress the economy further—and this reduces revenues, wiping out at least part of the attempted deficit reduction.
Historical Examples
They may be necessary—as buffers—but they depress us by their dulness.
Mountain MeditationsL. Lind-af-Hageby
It only needed a great shock to depress him to make his case hopeless.
Sir Brook Fossbrooke, Volume I.Charles James Lever
Wade did not depress the muzzle, if I recollect aright, at all.
Left on LabradorCharles Asbury Stephens
Her manner at the same time seemed to depress him and yet to fill him with hope.
Mr. Grex of Monte CarloE. Phillips Oppenheim
Alone of all superiors, the saint does not depress the human dignity of others.
A Short History of EnglandG. K. Chesterton
depress
- to lower in spirits; make gloomy; deject
- to weaken or lower the force, vigour, or energy of
- to lower prices of (securities or a security market)
- to press or push down
- to lower the pitch of (a musical sound)
- obsolete to suppress or subjugate
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French depresser, from Latin dēprimere from de- + premere to press 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for depress
v.
early 14c., "put down by force," from Old French depresser, from Late Latin depressare, frequentative of Latin deprimere "press down," from de- "down" (see de-) + premere "to press" (see press (v.1)).
Meaning "push down physically" is from early 15c.; that of "deject, make gloomy" is from 1620s; economic sense of "lower in value" is from 1878. Related: Depressed; depressing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
depress
(dĭ-prĕs′)- To lower in spirits; deject.
- To cause to drop or sink; lower.
- To press down.
- To lessen the activity or force of something.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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