depressed; depressing; depresses
2
a
: to press down
depress the backspace key
b
: to cause to sink to a lower position
3
: to lessen the activity or strength of
drugs that may depress the appetite
4
: sadden, discourage
don't let the news depress you
5
: to decrease the market value or marketability of
Examples of depress in a Sentence
The news seemed to depress him a little.
I don't mean to depress you, but there's no way we can win.
We were all depressed by the loss.
You shouldn't let this kind of problem depress you.
These changes could depress the economy.
Market conditions are likely to depress earnings in the next quarter.
depressing the price of a stock
Slowly depress the car's brake pedal.
Depress the “shift” key on your keyboard.
The doctor will depress your tongue and look at your throat.
Recent Examples on the Web
Unable to raise budgets as fast as populations, some cities slowed or stalled new development, rather than depress services to existing taxpayers.
—
Mark Dee
march 6, Idaho Statesman, 7 Mar. 2026
Because the Zagros Mountains depress the crust in a narrow and shallow region, the Gulf is only 110 meters deep and 340 km wide at most.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 6 Mar. 2026
And these kinds of mixed messages help depress consumer confidence.
—Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 4 Mar. 2026
Reeves had hoped her statement to the House of Commons would be a relatively low-key affair, but economists are warning that the Iran war could upend the forecasts, depressing growth, stoking inflation and increasing debt.
—ABC News, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for depress
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Mark Dee
march 6, Idaho Statesman, 7 Mar. 2026
Because the Zagros Mountains depress the crust in a narrow and shallow region, the Gulf is only 110 meters deep and 340 km wide at most.
—Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 6 Mar. 2026
And these kinds of mixed messages help depress consumer confidence.
—Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 4 Mar. 2026
Reeves had hoped her statement to the House of Commons would be a relatively low-key affair, but economists are warning that the Iran war could upend the forecasts, depressing growth, stoking inflation and increasing debt.
—ABC News, 3 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for depress
Cite this Entry
“Depress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/depress. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
depress
verb
de·press
di-ˈpres 
1
a
: to press down
b
: to cause to sink to a lower position
2
: to lessen the activity or strength of
3
: sadden, discourage
4
: to lessen in price or value : depreciate
depressingly
adverb
-iŋ-lē
Medical Definition
depress
transitive verb
de·press
di-ˈpres
1
: to diminish the activity, strength, or yield of
able to depress irritability of the heart muscle by the use of such a drug as procaine
2
: to lower in spirit or mood
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