depressed

Depressed is part of the Academic Word List. It is important for students in college and university.

Pronunciation

• (UK) (US) IPA ^(key): /dəˈprɛst/

Adjective

Positive depressed

Comparative more depressed

Superlative most depressed

1. If someone is depressed, they have the condition called depression--they are very sad and cannot imagine being happy in the future

   No one knows why it happened, but last year, Jay became depressed.

2. If someone is depressed, they are very sad and unhappy.

   "I heard Katie lost the race." "Yes, she is a bit depressed about it."

3. If the economy is depressed, it is doing badly.

   In 2008, the economy was severely depressed

4. If something that has many levels--like a surface, the ground, or something that moves up and down--is depressed, it is low.

   The ground is depressed where the rock used to be.

   The company was worried the depressed prices would make them loose money

Usage notes

Because depressed can mean both a medical condition and "very sad," some people say that we should not use depressed to mean "very sad."

Verb

Plain form depress

Third-person singular depresses

Past tense depressed

Past participle depressed

Present participle depressing

1. The past tense and past participle of depress.

Related words

• depression
• depressing
• depressive