Word family noun depression depressant depressive adjective depressed depressing depressant depressive verb depress adverb depressingly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdepressde‧press /dɪˈpres/ AWL verb [transitive] 1 SAD/UNHAPPYto make someone feel very unhappy → depression The thought of taking the exam again depressed him. It depresses me that nobody seems to care.2 HARM/BE BAD FORto prevent an economy from being as active and successful as it usually is → depression Several factors combined to depress the American economy.3 formalPRESS to press something down, especially a part of a machine Depress the clutch fully.RegisterIn everyday English, people usually say they push (down) or press (down) a button rather than depress it: Push this button for cold water.Push the clutch down fully.4 formalVALUE to reduce the value of prices or wages High interest rates may depress share prices.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
depress• Sometimes she stayed for weeks, but it depressed her terribly.• Shaun decided to leave. The way the others were behaving was beginning to depress him.• Falling demand for wheat has depressed its market price.• That movie depressed me for hours.• It depressed me to think that five years ago I was earning more than I do now.• Depress the brake slowly.• The governor thinks higher taxes will depress the state's economy.• Listening to the news can really depress you, if you let it.• The aim in doing this is not to depress yourself but to be open to the possibility of self-improvement.From Longman Business Dictionarydepressde‧press /dɪˈpres/ verb [transitive]ECONOMICS1to prevent an economy, industry, market etc from working properly or being as active as it usually isSeveral factors combined to depress the American economy.Overproduction was blamed for depressing oil markets.2to reduce the value of something such as prices or wagesCompetition between workers will depress wage levels.Profits have already been depressed by the recession.→ See Verb tableOrigin depress (1300-1400) Old French depresser, from Latin premere “to press” 