major depression

noun

: a serious mood disorder involving one or more episodes of intense psychological depression or loss of interest or pleasure that lasts two or more weeks and is accompanied by irritability, fatigue, poor concentration, sleep disturbances, weight gain or loss, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and sometimes suicidal tendencies : clinical depression, major depressive disorder

Episodes of major depression usually last several months and may recur throughout a lifetime.

—The Harvard Mental Health Letter

Psychiatrists have found that among distinguished artists, the rates of manic depression and major depression are 10 to 30 times as prevalent as in the population at large.

—Natalie Angier

Examples of major depression in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The percentage of American adolescents with symptoms of major depression nearly tripled from 2005 to 2019, while anxiety almost doubled. —CBS News, 20 Mar. 2026

Irrespective of symptoms, such interventions can support people diagnosed with psychiatric disabilities like schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder. —Adrienne Lapidos, The Conversation, 18 Mar. 2026

Eighteen patients with major depression were treated with zalsupindole for one week in a monitored setting. —Clayton Dalton, New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2026

One modeling study estimated that testing to look for genetic components that may influence a drug’s effectiveness could save the Canadian health system $956 million over 20 years if used among adults with major depression in British Columbia. —Jamie Ducharme, USA Today, 12 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for major depression

• overexpression
• accession
• aggression
• compression
• concession
• confession
• digression
• discretion
• expression
• impression
• obsession
• oppression

Medical Definition

major depression

noun

: a serious mood disorder involving one or more episodes of intense psychological depression or loss of interest or pleasure that lasts two or more weeks and is accompanied by irritability, fatigue, poor concentration, sleep disturbances, weight gain or loss, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and sometimes suicidal tendencies : clinical depression, major depressive disorder