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• depression
  depression

  noun

  the act of depressing.
• Depression
  Depression

  noun

  the worldwide economic depression of the early 1930s, when there was mass unemployment

depression

American  

[dih-presh-uhn] / dɪˈprɛʃ ən /

noun

depressions plural

1. the act of depressing.

2. the state of being depressed.

3. a depressed or sunken place or part; an area lower than the surrounding surface.

4. sadness; gloom; dejection.

   Synonyms:

   despondency, discouragement

5. Psychiatry. a condition of general emotional dejection and withdrawal; sadness greater and more prolonged than that warranted by any objective reason.

6. dullness or inactivity, as of trade.

7. Economics. a period during which business, employment, and stock-market values decline severely or remain at a very low level of activity.

8. the Depression. Great Depression.

9. Pathology. a low state of vital powers or functional activity.

10. Astronomy. the angular distance of a celestial body below the horizon; negative altitude.

11. Surveying. angle of depression.

12. Physical Geography. an area completely or mostly surrounded by higher land, ordinarily having interior drainage and not conforming to the valley of a single stream.

13. Meteorology. an area of low atmospheric pressure.

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depression ¹ British  

/ dɪˈprɛʃən /

noun

1. the act of depressing or state of being depressed

2. a depressed or sunken place or area

3. a mental disorder characterized by extreme gloom, feelings of inadequacy, and inability to concentrate

4. pathol an abnormal lowering of the rate of any physiological activity or function, such as respiration

5. an economic condition characterized by substantial and protracted unemployment, low output and investment, etc; slump

6. Also called: cyclone.   low.  meteorol a large body of rotating and rising air below normal atmospheric pressure, which often brings rain

7. (esp in surveying and astronomy) the angular distance of an object, celestial body, etc, below the horizontal plane through the point of observation Compare elevation

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Depression ² British  

/ dɪˈprɛʃən /

noun

1. Also known as: the Great Depression.   the Slump.  the worldwide economic depression of the early 1930s, when there was mass unemployment

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depression Scientific  

/ dĭ-prĕsh′ən /

1. A geographic area, such as a sinkhole or basin, that is lower than its surroundings.

2. A mood disorder characterized by an inability to experience pleasure, difficulty in concentrating, disturbance of sleep and appetite, and feelings of sadness, guilt, and helplessness.

3. A reduction in the activity of a physiological process, such as respiration.

4. A region of low atmospheric pressure. Low pressure systems result in precipitation, ranging from mild to severe in intensity.

5. See also cyclone

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depression Cultural  

1. A period of drastic decline in the national economy, characterized by decreasing business activity, falling prices, and unemployment. The best known of such periods is the Great Depression, which occurred in the 1930s.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• minidepression
  noun
• nondepression
  noun
• predepression
  noun
• antidepression
  adjective
• postdepression
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• depressions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of depression

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English (from Anglo-French ), from Medieval Latin dēpressiōn- (stem of dēpressiō ), Late Latin: “a pressing down,” equivalent to Latin dēpress(us) + -iōn- noun suffix; see depress, -ion

Explanation

The act of pressing down on something is called making a depression, and when people suffer from psychological depression that is often what it feels like — the world itself is pressing down on them. Depression can be a persistent mood (rotten), an economic situation (the worst), or just the geography (low). The Great Depression was when poor policy and economic circumstances combined to create a long period of time everyone struggled to even get food on the table.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

depression Depression depressions

Oddie later discovered that her depression had followed the premature deaths of his two older siblings.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Simon also wrote that her experience with Parkinson’s wrought “anxiety, depression, exhaustion, an apathy.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

He spoke movingly of suffering from depression when he was dropped from "Springwatch" in 2008.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

Blame an explosion in doubtful claims for mental-health conditions such as depression and ADHD.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Music can affect our heartbeat, blood pressure, and pulse rate, and reduce stress, anxiety and even depression.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Eighty years ago, though the Arsenal of Democracy had vanquished the Axis and weathered a withering Depression, the recovering American people found themselves rich in bills but short on laughs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

Unforeseen events could eventually leave them dependent on public assistance, re-creating the kind of poverty that Social Security was designed to prevent after the Great Depression.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

Think of our mobilization after the Great Depression and in World War II. Or the Marshall Plan to rebuild after.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

The concept of the American Dream dates back to the founding of the US, but the phrase wasn't popularised until later, in The Epic of America, a book published in 1931 during the Great Depression.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

He didn’t hear about the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression until six months after it happened.

From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin

Wrinkle structures are small ridges and depressions that can form when microbial communities grow into mats across sandy sediment.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

Wars, diseases, revolutions, depressions, bankruptcies, financial crises and natural disasters all swept through history and wiped out wealth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

He added: “I know I could not have been so calm through depressions, inflations, banking and currency crises, wars and political disruptions.”

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 18, 2026

America has been through plenty of dark times in its history, from a Civil War to depressions and two bloody world wars that leveled much of the world.

From Salon ● Jan. 13, 2026

But rather than outlining the petals in the usual way, Kang was clearing away the clay to leave teardrop-shaped depressions.

From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park