depressed; depressing; depresses
2
a
: to press down
depress a typewriter 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
This year brought two new adverse factors — President Donald Trump’s tariffs that could generate retaliatory tariffs, depressing export markets, and Trump’s sweeps of undocumented immigrants, who are a major portion of the agricultural labor force.
—
Dan Walters, Mercury News, 25 June 2025
Most Fed officials are worried surging import taxes could depress growth while restarting what had been cooling inflation pressures.
—Michael S. Derby, USA Today, 24 June 2025
Retiring when your stock market investments have dropped and withdrawing too much from those savings can permanently depress your retirement investments.
—Steve Vernon, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
The sudden conflagration between Israel and Iran has sent oil prices higher, but Washington’s tariffs — which could increase after a 90-day moratorium expires next month — are likely to raise prices within the US and depress them abroad, while also slowing growth worldwide.
—Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 16 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for depress
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Dan Walters, Mercury News, 25 June 2025
Most Fed officials are worried surging import taxes could depress growth while restarting what had been cooling inflation pressures.
—Michael S. Derby, USA Today, 24 June 2025
Retiring when your stock market investments have dropped and withdrawing too much from those savings can permanently depress your retirement investments.
—Steve Vernon, Forbes.com, 20 June 2025
The sudden conflagration between Israel and Iran has sent oil prices higher, but Washington’s tariffs — which could increase after a 90-day moratorium expires next month — are likely to raise prices within the US and depress them abroad, while also slowing growth worldwide.
—Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 16 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for depress
Cite this Entry
“Depress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/depress. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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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