depressant

American  

[dih-pres-uhnt] / dɪˈprɛs ənt /

adjective

1. Medicine/Medical. having the quality of depressing depressing or lowering the vital activities; sedative.

2. causing a lowering in spirits; dejecting.

3. causing a drop in value; economically depressing. depressing.

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noun

1. Medicine/Medical. a sedative.

2. Chemistry. any agent capable of diminishing a specific property of a substance.

depressant British  

/ dɪˈprɛsənt /

adjective

1. med able to diminish or reduce nervous or functional activity

2. causing gloom or dejection; depressing

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noun

1. a depressant drug

Etymology

Origin of depressant

First recorded in 1875–80; depress + -ant

Example Sentences

Economists have long pointed to the country’s years-long property slump as a major depressant of consumer sentiment, as real-estate makes up a significant portion of household balance sheets.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026

I have some doubts about that being the primary depressant, considering that the second, third and fourth most morose metros on the list are all in the Sun Belt: Riverside-San Bernardino, Phoenix and Miami.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 17, 2023

He said he had been given a diagnosis as “manic depressant and bipolar,” which caused him to lie about the brain cancer.

From New York Times • Aug. 1, 2019

Dramatic reconstruction – also used in Antonia Bird's Hamburg Cell, a film about the hijackers themselves – served a purpose, but it could also be a gruelling depressant.

From The Guardian • Mar. 30, 2010

Digitonin, on the other hand, is a cardiac depressant, and has been found to be identical with saponin, the chief constituent of senega root.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 4 "Diameter" to "Dinarchus" by Various