depressant

American  

[dih-pres-uhnt] / dɪˈprɛs ənt /

adjective

1. Medicine/Medical. having the quality of depressing or lowering the vital activities; sedative.

2. causing a lowering in spirits; dejecting.

3. causing a drop in value; economically depressing.

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noun

1. Medicine/Medical. a sedative.

2. Chemistry. any agent capable of diminishing a specific property of a substance.

depressant British  

/ dɪˈprɛsənt /

adjective

1. med able to diminish or reduce nervous or functional activity

2. causing gloom or dejection; depressing

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noun

1. a depressant drug

Etymology

Origin of depressant

First recorded in 1875–80; depress + -ant

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

depressant

Economists have long pointed to the country’s years-long property slump as a major depressant of consumer sentiment, as real-estate makes up a significant portion of household balance sheets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026

I have some doubts about that being the primary depressant, considering that the second, third and fourth most morose metros on the list are all in the Sun Belt: Riverside-San Bernardino, Phoenix and Miami.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 17, 2023

He said he had been given a diagnosis as “manic depressant and bipolar,” which caused him to lie about the brain cancer.

From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2019

Dramatic reconstruction – also used in Antonia Bird's Hamburg Cell, a film about the hijackers themselves – served a purpose, but it could also be a gruelling depressant.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 30, 2010

The last two results, apparently anomalous, are due to the fact, which will be demonstrated later,  that KHO in minute quantities is an excitant, while in large quantities it is a depressant.

From Response in the Living and Non-Living by Sir Jagadis Chandra Bose