Great Depression

American  

noun

1. the economic crisis and period of low business activity in the U.S. and other countries, roughly beginning with the stock-market crash in October, 1929, and continuing through most of the 1930s.

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Depression, Great Cultural  

1. The great slowdown in the American economy, the worst in the country's history, which began in 1929 and lasted until the early 1940s. Many banks and businesses failed, and millions of people lost their jobs. (See Dust Bowl; fireside chats; Hoovervilles; New Deal; Okies; Franklin D. Roosevelt; and stock market Crash of 1929.)

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Usage

When and what was the Great Depression? The Great Depression was a worldwide economic crisis that lasted for much of the 1930s. It heavily impacted the United States, where millions of people faced unemployment, homelessness, and poverty. In economics, a depression is a period during which business, employment, and stock market values fall to very low levels for a significant amount of time (typically more than three years). The Great in Great Depression refers to the fact that it was the worst depression in U. S. history. The start of the Great Depression is often cited as the U. S. stock market crash of 1929, but its causes are complex. Its effects were also complex and widespread and are still discussed. Some can even be seen today in the form of government programs and agencies created to address the crisis at the time.

Example Sentences

Popcorn became the go-to movie snack during the 1930s as theaters sought new revenue streams during the Great Depression, said film historian Ross Melnick, a professor at UC Santa Barbara.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 6, 2026

The Great Depression spawned mass unemployment and economic hardship, but it was also the era of Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington, William Faulkner and John Steinbeck, “Gone With the Wind” and “The Wizard of Oz.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026

The trajectory was familiar to many moviegoers from their experience in legitimate organizations, when the success of the 1920s gave way to the job losses and suffering of the Great Depression.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 21, 2026

During his roughly 42-year working and investing life, which spanned the Great Depression and World War II, the Dow increased roughly fivefold.

From Barron's • Mar. 14, 2026

The FTP was established in 1935 under the Works Progress Administration, one of the government’s New Deal programs intended to provide economic relief during the Great Depression.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow