- 1[uncountable] a medical condition in which a person feels very sad and anxious and often has physical symptoms such as being unable to sleep, etc. clinical depression She suffered from severe depression after losing her job. Wordfinderconditionanorexia, autism, bipolar disorder, condition, dementia, depression, mentally, paranoia, psychosis, schizophrenia see also postnatal depression, post-partum depression Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectiveserious, severe, black, … … of depressionbout, fit, period, … verb + depressiondevelop, fall into, go into, … depression + verbdeepen, lift, affect somebody, … prepositionin depression, with depression phrasesthe depths of depression, feelings of depression, the onset of depression, … See full entry See related entries: Mental and emotional problems
- 2[uncountable, countable] the state of feeling very sad and without hope There was a feeling of gloom and depression in the office when the news of the job cuts was announced. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectiveserious, severe, black, … … of depressionbout, fit, period, … verb + depressiondevelop, fall into, go into, … depression + verbdeepen, lift, affect somebody, … prepositionin depression, with depression phrasesthe depths of depression, feelings of depression, the onset of depression, … See full entry See related entries: Unhappiness
- 3[countable, uncountable] a period when there is little economic activity and many people are poor or without jobs The country was in the grip of (an) economic depression. the great Depression of the 1930s Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectivegreat, major, serious, … verb + depressionbe in the grip of, experience, go into, … depression + verbdeepen prepositionduring a/the depression, in a/the depression phrasesthe depths of a depression, a period of depression See full entry See related entries: Economy, Poverty and famine
- 4[countable] (formal) a part of a surface that is lower than the parts around it synonym hollow Rainwater collects in shallow depressions on the ground. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adjectiveshallow, slight, small, … prepositiondepression in, depression on See full entry
- 5[countable] (specialist) a weather condition in which the pressure of the air becomes lower, often causing rain an atmospheric depression moving east from the Atlantic compare anticyclone See related entries: The Earth and the atmosphere Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin depressio(n-), from deprimere ‘press down’.Extra examples Bereavement can often lead to depression. Depression affects a surprising number of people. From the air, the photos show a shallow depression on the planet’s surface. He may have killed himself in depression. He was in a state of acute depression. He’s been off work for months with depression. Her depression has lifted now. His wife had left him and he was being treated for depression. I was in the depths of depression after receiving my exam results. In a fit of depression, she threw away all her books. Many people lost their jobs in the great depression of the 1930s. She fell into a black depression and refused to leave her room. She had been receiving medical treatment for depression. She was diagnosed as having clinical depression. She was gradually coming out of her depression. The actor says he suffers frequent bouts of depression. The country is experiencing a severe economic depression. The depression seems to be deepening. The housing market has gone into depression. The onset of depression often follows a traumatic event. These results should not be a cause for depression. a new drug used to treat depression moments of deep depression periods of severe economic depression He grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Her mood swung from the depths of depression to coping well. It is easy to slip into a mood of depression.
noun jump to other results
BrE BrE//dɪˈpreʃn//; NAmE NAmE//dɪˈpreʃn//
Unhappiness, Economy, The Earth and the atmosphere, Poverty and famine, Mental and emotional problemsCheck pronunciation: depression
