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
At American firms, accent bias can quietly shape whose ideas gain traction at work by depressing attention and engagement for speakers with nonnative English accents.
—
Aliah Zewail, Harvard Business Review, 17 Mar. 2026
Another tax change could depress giving by larger amounts.
—Jon Bergdoll, The Conversation, 17 Mar. 2026
The machine worked by reading music that was encoded by holes punched into rolls of paper, which in turn directed airflows to levers that depressed piano keys.
—Adam Ozimek, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2026
Democrats who still believe in the New Deal-era promise of government helping the public are a bit depressed by the idea that the solution to their party’s problems is generating less money for that purpose.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 11 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for depress
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Aliah Zewail, Harvard Business Review, 17 Mar. 2026
Another tax change could depress giving by larger amounts.
—Jon Bergdoll, The Conversation, 17 Mar. 2026
The machine worked by reading music that was encoded by holes punched into rolls of paper, which in turn directed airflows to levers that depressed piano keys.
—Adam Ozimek, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2026
Democrats who still believe in the New Deal-era promise of government helping the public are a bit depressed by the idea that the solution to their party’s problems is generating less money for that purpose.
—David Weigel, semafor.com, 11 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 24 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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