depression
noun
Simple meaning
A period of low morale or unhappiness which lasts longer than several weeks and may include ideation of self-inflicted injury or suicide.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihprehshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪpˈɹɛʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
psychologycountable
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.
economics
A period during the 1930s when there was a worldwide economic depression and mass unemployment
economics
A period of major economic contraction.
The act of lowering or pressing something down.
Pushing down
psychologyusually uncountable
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.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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.
Used this way, depression is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Nearby words
- low , more casual, better suited to speech than writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use depression
- “The weather often affects mood, sometimes leading to seasonal depression.”
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Severe and progressive depression in infants who lose their mother and do not get a suitable substitute.
Mild chronic depression.
An inappropriate state of depression that is precipitated by events in the person's life (to be distinguished from normal grief).
The economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s.
A major depressive episode associated with the climacteric.
A mental disorder characterized by episodes of mania and depression.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: period of low morale
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “depression” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.