Standard Lemma guide

depressing

adj · verb · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /dɪˈpɹɛsɪŋ(ɡ)/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /dɪˈpɹɛsɪŋ/
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 P R EH1 S IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Causing depression or sadness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The television news was depressing, so rather than start crying I turned it off.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: distressing, saddening, unpleasant, atrabiliary, atrabilious, deplorable, depressing, grievous, heartbreaking, heartrending, miserable, lamentable, lachrymable, mournful, regrettable, rueful, sad, sorrowful, tragic, unhappy, upsetting, woebegone, woeful, cheerless, comfortless, bleak, dark, morose, desolate, dire, disconsolate, dismal, doleful, dolesome, drear, drearisome, dreary, dreich, forlorn, gayless, gray, gloomsome, gloomy, grim, joyless, lack-laughter, lugubrious, melancholy, mirthless, no joke, saturnine, solemn, somber, sombre, spiritless, sullen, sunless, uncheerful, uncheery, unmerry, wintry

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Causing a reduction in economic activity.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • The policy may have a depressing effect on some branches of industry.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

present participle and gerund of depress

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, gerund, participle, present

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

adjective

Meaning 4

causing sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the economic outlook is depressing
  • something cheerless about the room
  • a moody and uncheerful person
  • an uncheerful place

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cheerless, uncheerful

Antonyms: cheerful

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

42 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: ճնշող (čnšoġ) — causing depression or sadness
  • Armenian: ծանր (canr) — causing depression or sadness
  • Belarusian: гнятлі́вы (hnjatlívy) — causing depression or sadness
  • Bulgarian: тягостен (tjagosten) — causing depression or sadness
  • Bulgarian: угнетителен (ugnetitelen) — causing depression or sadness
  • Catalan: depriment — causing depression or sadness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 令人沮喪的 /令人沮丧的 (lìngrén jǔsàng de) — causing depression or sadness
  • Dutch: deprimerend — causing depression or sadness
  • Esperanto: nigra — causing depression or sadness
  • Finnish: masentava — causing depression or sadness
  • French: déprimant — causing depression or sadness
  • Galician: deprimente — causing depression or sadness
  • German: deprimierend — causing depression or sadness
  • German: bedrückend — causing depression or sadness
  • Greek: καταθλιπτικός (katathliptikós) — causing depression or sadness
  • Hebrew: מדכא (medake') — causing depression or sadness
  • Hungarian: nyomasztó — causing depression or sadness
  • Hungarian: lehangoló — causing depression or sadness
  • Hungarian: deprimáló — causing depression or sadness
  • Irish: gruama — causing depression or sadness
  • Italian: deprimente — causing depression or sadness
  • Plautdietsch: bedrekjent — causing depression or sadness
  • Polish: powodujący depresję — causing depression or sadness
  • Portuguese: deprimente — causing depression or sadness
  • Russian: гнету́щий (gnetúščij) — causing depression or sadness
  • Russian: тя́гостный (tjágostnyj) — causing depression or sadness
  • Russian: уны́лый (unýlyj) — causing depression or sadness
  • Russian: наводя́щий тоску́ (navodjáščij toskú) — causing depression or sadness
  • Russian: депресси́вный (depressívnyj) — causing depression or sadness
  • Russian: удруча́ющий (udručájuščij) — causing depression or sadness
  • Spanish: deprimente — causing depression or sadness
  • Swedish: deprimerande — causing depression or sadness
  • Swedish: deppig — causing depression or sadness
  • Thai: น่าหดหู่ — causing depression or sadness
  • Thai: น่าเศร้า — causing depression or sadness
  • Ukrainian: гнітю́чий (hnitjúčyj) — causing depression or sadness
  • Ukrainian: тужли́вий (tužlývyj) — causing depression or sadness
  • Ukrainian: похму́рий (poxmúryj) — causing depression or sadness
  • Ukrainian: сумни́й (sumnýj) — causing depression or sadness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 使蕭條 /使萧条 — causing a reduction in economic activity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 使蕭條 /使萧条 (shǐ xiāotiáo) — causing a reduction in economic activity
  • Finnish: hidastava — causing a reduction in economic activity
Real reading context

depressing in complete knowledge articles

Boys and Girls Together Literature & books · Developing · 2 uses The Medea of Euripides (radio play) Arts & music · Advanced · 1 uses