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
Synonyms
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
The drug is a barbiturate that depresses the central nervous system and causes the heart to stop.
—
Tyler Spence, The Indianapolis Star, 27 June 2024
Notably, a review-bombing campaign has been waged against the latter, depressing its score on the critic-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes to almost comical levels.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 24 June 2024
Retail sales in May, in part, were depressed by falling gas prices.
—Anne D'innocenzio, Fortune, 18 June 2024
Recommended Trust Fauci talks to Congress on COVID: Three key takeaways
Meanwhile, the Houthi attacks continue to depress shipping through the region.
—Jon Gambrell, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for depress 
Tyler Spence, The Indianapolis Star, 27 June 2024
Notably, a review-bombing campaign has been waged against the latter, depressing its score on the critic-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes to almost comical levels.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 24 June 2024
Retail sales in May, in part, were depressed by falling gas prices.
—Anne D'innocenzio, Fortune, 18 June 2024
Recommended Trust Fauci talks to Congress on COVID: Three key takeaways
Meanwhile, the Houthi attacks continue to depress shipping through the region.
—Jon Gambrell, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for depress
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'depress.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near depress
Cite this Entry
“Depress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/depress. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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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