- present participle of depress.
depressing
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of depressing
Explanation
Depressing things make you feel sad or inadequate, possibly because they serve as reminders of weaknesses or defects. For example, it can be depressing to be around a happy family when all your relatives are fighting with each other. If a friend acts as if something is depressing him, you might ask, "What's bringing you down?" In fact depress comes from the Latin word depremere, meaning "to press down." Depressing things make you feel like your spirits are low or your heart is heavy. Something depressing weighs you down, just as something happy tends to boost you or make you feel like you are flying high.
Vocabulary lists containing depressing
The Dead and the Gone
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Better Nate Than Ever
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Louder than Hunger
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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.
People are facing a "painful" and "depressing" few years ahead, economic think tanks have warned, after forecasts showed growth in living standards grinding almost to a halt.
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026
The pass/fail ratio is both depressing and mildly surprising.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026
The state of Lee’s broken family makes his draft-dodging seem inevitable yet depressing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026
Donors should only entrust their money to administrators and projects that break the depressing collegiate mold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
She knew, though, that any such admission would have a depressing effect on Dad, who took it for granted that his children had talent for everything.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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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.
