depress

verb

de·​press di-ˈpres 

dē-

depressed; depressing; depresses

transitive verb

1

obsolete : repress, subjugate

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

depressible

di-ˈpre-sə-bəl 

dē-

adjective

Synonyms of depress

• oppress
• sadden
• burden
• worry
• trouble
• deject
• bum (out)
• bother
• weigh down
• torture
• concern
• disturb
• get down
• distress

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

Some experts have raised concerns that media consolidation could depress pay for industry employees, while raising costs for American consumers due to fewer choices. —Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 15 June 2026

Disruptions from war are not cured by depressing economic activity; they’re cured by dealing with the causes of those disruptions. —Steve Forbes, Forbes.com, 12 June 2026

Bukayo Saka — England/Arsenal Saka suffers a little here from Mikel Arteta’s tactical approach depressing the final third production of all Arsenal’s attackers. —Liam Twomey, New York Times, 11 June 2026

Nevertheless, something might occur at work that depresses you. —Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 10 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French depresser, from Latin depressus, past participle of deprimere to press down, from de- + premere to press — more at press

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for depress

• abbess
• abscess
• access
• address
• assess
• caress
• confess
• digress
• distress
• egress
• excess
• express

Kids 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

depressible

-ə-bəl 

adjective

depressingly

-iŋ-lē

adverb

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