adjective
- serving to depress; inducing a state of depression: depressing news.
verb (used with object)
- to make sad or gloomy; lower in spirits; deject; dispirit.
- to lower in force, vigor, activity, etc.; weaken; make dull.
- to lower in amount or value.
- to put into a lower position: to depress the muzzle of a gun.
- to press down.
- Music. to lower in pitch.
adjective
- causing a feeling of dejection or low spirits
verb (tr)
- to lower in spirits; make gloomy; deject
- to weaken or lower the force, vigour, or energy of
- to lower prices of (securities or a security market)
- to press or push down
- to lower the pitch of (a musical sound)
- obsolete to suppress or subjugate
early 14c., “put down by force,” from Old French depresser, from Late Latin depressare, frequentative of Latin deprimere “press down,” from de- “down” (see de-) + premere “to press” (see press (v.1)).
Meaning “push down physically” is from early 15c.; that of “deject, make gloomy” is from 1620s; economic sense of “lower in value” is from 1878. Related: Depressed; depressing.
v.
- To lower in spirits; deject.
- To cause to drop or sink; lower.
- To press down.
- To lessen the activity or force of something.