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.
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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
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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
Etymology
Origin of depressed
From a late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at depress, -ed 2
Explanation
When stocks are depressed they are worth less than they should be. When people are depressed they are sad and lack energy. Depressed means down in spirit or value. While you'll often hear people say they are depressed, mostly they mean they are sad. If you are clinically depressed, you have a sadness and hopelessness that has physical effects and no logical reason behind it and you can't seem to shake it either. If someone calls their town or region depressed, they mean that the economy in that area is not good — in that place jobs are hard to find, and have been for quite a while. Sad, right?
Vocabulary lists containing depressed
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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.
If international visitation remains depressed, domestic tourists could benefit if that leads to deals for destinations like Las Vegas or Orlando.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
I love being back in L.A., though it gets me down a little bit — not depressed but melancholy in an autumn-of-my-years type of way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
After being depressed for a "long time", Miller said he was now feeling "genuine joy".
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
Britain’s Channel Four network found one man who’d been trying, unsuccessfully, to get himself off PIP for three years, saying he was no longer depressed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
I broke up the two rice cakes and we ate in silence, depressed by the ceaseless rain.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
