depress
Americanverb (used with object)
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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
-
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)
-
obsolete to suppress or subjugate
Related Words
See oppress.
Other Word Forms
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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The New SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words
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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.
Cisco, Jobless Data Depress Stocks U.S. stocks fell as a cautionary revenue view from Cisco Systems and an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims fueled more concerns about the sustainability of the economic recovery.
From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 12, 2010
Depress the shank of the hook against the skin in order to disengage the barb.
From Time Magazine Archive
"This man," Blake scrawled across the title page of his copy of Reynolds' printed lectures, the Discourses, "was Hired to Depress Art:--This is the opinion of Will Blake."
From Time Magazine Archive
Depress the key slowly, watching the hammer, and the fault will be discovered.
From Piano Tuning A Simple and Accurate Method for Amateurs by Fischer, J. Cree (Jerry Cree)
The harmonics of a pianoforte string can be easily demonstrated by the following experiment: Depress the "loud" pedal and strike any note in the bass a sharp blow.
From The Recent Revolution in Organ Building Being an Account of Modern Developments by Miller, George Laing
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.
