depression
Syllables: de·pres·sion/dɪˈpɹɛʃən/
depression noun: a state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future; any of several mental disorders with this state of mind as a central feature.
Noun
depression (countable and uncountable, plural depressions)
- A state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future; any of several mental disorders with this state of mind as a central feature.
- I used to suffer from depression, but now I'm mostly content with my life.
- It is that Mr. Levi's death could not be dissociated from the major depression with which he was afflicted, and that indeed his suicide proceeded directly from that illness.1988 December 19, William Styron, “Why Primo Levi Need Not Have Died”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- Synonyms:
- despondency, hopelessness, misery, blueness, tristesse, mirthless, blues, crestfallenness, dejection, distress
- A period of low morale or unhappiness (a period of experiencing the above-mentioned state of mind) which lasts longer than several weeks and may include ideation of self-inflicted injury or suicide.
- […] your illness reflects the textbook description of bipolar disorder (euphoric, grandiose, manic highs followed by deep depressions,[…]2011 February 28, David J. Miklowitz, The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide, Second Edition: What You and Your Family Need to Know, Guilford Press, →ISBN, page 106
- His first major breakdown occurred when his son was five years old; he continued to go to pieces periodically, with a particularly deep depression that lasted from the time Bill was in sixth grade until the time he finished junior high[…]2014 September 16, Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon: An Atlas Of Depression, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 73
- An area that is lower in topography than its surroundings.
- It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick. As one sat on the sward behind the elm, with the back turned on the rick and nothing in front but the tall elms and the oaks in the...1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC
- These large [mazes] led to smaller ones which were constructed to hold in the hand, usually in the form of a circular tray. In these a marble was contained which had to be manipulated to roll into a depression in the centre.1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 151
- An area of lowered air pressure that generally brings moist weather, sometimes promoting hurricanes and tornadoes.
- A period of major economic contraction.
- Antonyms:
- boom
- Four consecutive quarters of negative, real GDP growth (for example, this operational definition is used by the US NBER and many other writers).
- The Great Depression was the worst financial event in US history.
- The act of lowering or pressing something down.
- Depression of the lever starts the machine.
- A lowering, in particular a reduction in a particular biological variable or the function of an organ, in contrast to elevation.
Proper noun capitalized: Depression
the Depression
- Synonym of Great Depression.
- Synonyms:
- Great Depression
depression meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
depression in Hindi
- psychology: state of mind
- अवसाद avsād
- psychology: period of unhappiness
- अवसाद avsād
- economics: period of major economic contraction
- मंदी mandī
- geography: low area
- गड्ढा gaḍḍhā
depression in Tamil
- உளச்சோர்வு, மனச்சோர்வு, மனத்தளர்வு, மனச்சோர்வு மூல உருவாகும் செயலின்மை, மனத்தாழ்வு, காற்றழுத்தத் தாழ்வு மண்டலம்
depression in Urdu
- psychology: state of mind
- افسردگی afsurdagī
- psychology: period of unhappiness
- افسردگی afsurdagī
depression in Bengali
- depression, frustration, chagrin, disappointment
- হতাশা hotaśa
- depression, boredom, insipidity
- অক্ষেমা okkhema
- depression
- অবসাদ obśad
More languagesFewer languages
- depression in Malayalam
- വിഷാദം viṣādaṁ
- depression in Kannada
- ಕುಸಿತ, ತಗ್ಗು, ಹಳ್ಳ, ನಿರುತ್ಸಾಹ
- depression in Punjabi
- غم ġam, ਗ਼ਮ ġam
- depression in Gujarati
- ડિપ્રેશન, ડિપ્રેસન
- depression in Odia
- ଅବସାଦ, ବିଷଣ୍ଣତା
- depression in Sanskrit
- निम्न nimna
- depression in Tagalog
- depresyon, hidiin
- depression in Arabic
- اِكْتِئَاب iktiʔāb, إِحْبَاط ʔiḥbāṭ, كَسَاد kasād, مُنْخَفَض munḵafaḍ
- depression in Malay
- tawar hati, kemurungan
- depression in Indonesian
- depresi, cekungan
- depression in Persian
- افسردگی afsordegi, رکود rokud, کسادی kesâdi, فرورفتگی foruraftegi
- depression in Thai
- ความซึมเศร้า kwaam-sʉm-sâo, อารมณ์ซึมเศร้า aa-rom-sʉm-sâo, โรคซึมเศร้า rôok-sʉm-sâo, ภาวะเศรษฐกิจตกต่ำ paa-wá-sèet-thà-gìt-dtòk-dtàm
Examples of depression in a sentence
- Many alcoholics who die from suicide suffer from deep depressions that are quite frequently protracted,[…]2016 January 14, Danuta Wasserman, Suicide: An unnecessary death, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
- It was not far from the house; but the ground sank into a depression there, and the ridge of it behind shut out everything except just the roof of the tallest hayrick.1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
Synonyms of depression
- despondency
- hopelessness
- misery
- blueness
- tristesse
- mirthless
- blues
- crestfallenness
- dejection
- distress
26 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of depression
| plural | depressions |
|---|
Origin of depression
From Middle English depression, depressioun, from Old French depression, from Latin dēpressiō. Equivalent to depress + -ion.
Words formed from depression
- Depression glass
- angle of depression
- anti-depression
- antidepression
- anxiodepression
- anxio-depression
- cardiodepression
- clinical depression
- cryptodepression
- depressional
- depressionary
- depressionism
- depressionist
- depressionless
- depressionlike
- dextrodepression
- double depression
- freezing-point depression
- immunodepression
- inbreeding depression
- infranasal depression
- laevodepression
- manic-depression
- manic depression
- microdepression
- neurodepression
- nondepression
- phagodepression
- post-con depression
- postdepression
- postnatal depression
- post-natal depression
- postpartum depression
- post-partum depression
- pre-depression
- pseudodepression
- retarded depression
- seasonal depression
- social depression
- summer depression
- tropical depression
- Trumpression
- undepression
- vasodepression
- winter depression
Phrases with depression
Words that rhyme with depression
- freshen
- expression
- impression
- possession
- session
- confession
- recession
- compression
- profession
- obsession
- cession
- oppression
8 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about depression
- What does depression mean?
- Depression means a state of mind producing serious, long-term lowering of enjoyment of life or inability to visualize a happy future; any of several mental disorders with this state of mind as a central feature.
- What is depression in Hindi?
- Depression in Hindi is अवसाद (avsād), मंदी (mandī), गड्ढा (gaḍḍhā). See Depression meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use depression in a sentence?
- Many alcoholics who die from suicide suffer from deep depressions that are quite frequently protracted,[…]
- What part of speech is depression?
- Depression can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce depression?
- Depression is pronounced /dɪˈpɹɛʃən/.
- What is the plural of depression?
- The plural of depression is depressions.
Words near depression in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: depression (page history and authors); Depression (page history and authors); depression (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); অক্ষেমা (Bengali) (page history and authors); depression (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); غم (Punjabi) (page history and authors); depression (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); depression (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-depression.ogg.
Cite this entry: “depression.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/depression. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.