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.
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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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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:
“These additional allowances would not only endanger our emissions targets, they would also flood the auction market and depress cap-and-invest revenues,” said Pam Odell of the group Climate Action California.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 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
Outside of the alliance, the U.A.E. will now feel the freedom to ramp up quickly—which could depress oil prices.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
The new plants caused concerns that a supply glut was about to depress prices for the next two to five years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 7, 2026
My mom and I sat in the backseat as Mr. Mason, from the passenger side, took my dad through the gears, telling him when to depress the clutch and when to let it go.
From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez
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
More broadly, pumping more oil depresses prices, creating fiscal headaches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2025
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
He told me before playing Pokémon Go it was "nearly impossible" to motivate himself to do anything, as he was feeling very anxious and depressed about life.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
The woman told Santander she was depressed and did not know how she could stop working after losing her life savings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
Analysts at Bernstein said that there are questions around whether the company will stay listed, given its depressed valuation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Bank of America’s global automobile-industry note, authored by lead analyst Horst Schneider and team, analyzed May sales data and observed that the biggest drag on the sector worldwide was the depressed Chinese market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
I wonder why they play these types of shows in the ER waiting room, where people are already feeling depressed about hurt loved ones.
From "Boy21" by Matthew Quick
Jobs are hard to find for the young and unemployed; high mortgage rates are depressing home sales; and, of late, inflation has again been rampant.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
What’s most depressing about all these stories is that they pointedly highlight the problem with contemporary American media.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
The high-pressure system that’s causing temperature spikes, Ciliberti said, is also depressing much of the particulate matter, pushing it closer to the ground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
"The direction this company is going in is depressing", the former employee said.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
The fate of the universe in either cosmology may seem a little depressing, but we may take solace in the time scales involved.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
