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

Hinshaw and others’ research shows that women with ADHD are significantly more likely to self-harm and attempt suicide than women without ADHD; experience unplanned pregnancies and intimate partner violence; and suffer from major depression. —Daliah Singer, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 July 2025

Thirty participants with a mean age of 57.5 were recruited to the trial, each with curable or non-curable cancer and a diagnosis of major depression. —New Atlas, 21 June 2025

Overlay this with therapeutic focus areas, and the urgency becomes even clearer: 37% of respondents are involved in neurology, frequently incorporating ocular assessments in trials for conditions such as epilepsy, major depression, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. —Sonali Bloom, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025

Depositphotos Agrawal had led a previous trial that tested the effectiveness of using psilocybin to treat major depression in cancer patients. —New Atlas, 21 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1977, 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