depressed
Americanadjective
-
sad and gloomy; dejected; downcast.
- Synonyms:
- morbid, blue, miserable, despondent, morose
- Antonyms:
- happy
-
pressed down, or situated lower than the general surface.
-
lowered in force, amount, etc.
-
undergoing economic hardship, especially poverty and unemployment.
-
being or measured below the standard or norm.
-
Botany, Zoology. flattened down; greater in width than in height.
-
Psychiatry. having or experiencing depression.
adjective
-
low in spirits; downcast; despondent
-
lower than the surrounding surface
-
pressed down or flattened
-
Also: distressed. characterized by relative economic hardship, such as unemployment
a depressed area
-
lowered in force, intensity, or amount
-
(of plant parts) flattened as though pressed from above
-
zoology flattened from top to bottom
the depressed bill of the spoonbill
Other Word Forms
- nondepressed adjective
- quasi-depressed adjective
- subdepressed adjective
- undepressed adjective
Etymology
Origin of depressed
From a late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; depress, -ed 2
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.
Defense, Space & Security’s profitability has been depressed for a while, partly because of fixed price contracts that have declined in value as inflation raised costs.
From Barron's
The song was credited with summing up the depressed mood of the country at the time, with riots in several British cities in 1981.
From BBC
The numbers: The U.S. expanded at a subpar 1.4% annual pace in the fourth quarter of 2025, depressed by a long federal shutdown that caused government spending to plunge.
From MarketWatch
But losses are disproportionately high among small indigenous groups, especially in economically depressed areas of Siberia and the Far East, such as Sedanka.
From BBC
Economists have said they believe missing data on housing-cost increases in October has artificially depressed estimates of how much those prices rose last year.
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.
