depress
/dɪˈpɹɛs/verb
depress is spelled D-E-P-R-E-S-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,504th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, depress means “To press down” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in depress?
| Letters | 7: D-E-P-R-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,504th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is depress?
Depress appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,504th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce depress?
- /dɪˈpɹɛs/
Depress has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-depress.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with depress?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as depress.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: pressed.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of depress
- depresses present, singular, he/she/it
- depressing participle, present
- depressed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does depress mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To press down.
Depress the upper lever to start the machine.
- 2
To make depressed, sad or bored.
Winter depresses me.
- 3
To cause a depression or a decrease in parts of the economy.
Lower productivity will eventually depress wages.
- 4
To bring down or humble; to abase (pride, etc.).
- 5
To reduce (an equation) in a lower degree.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Depress in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | appuyer |
| Portuguese | pressionar , deprimir |
| German | deprimieren |
| Spanish | deprimir |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does depress come from?
From Middle English depressen, from Old French depresser, from Latin dēpressus, perfect participle of dēprimō (“to press down, to weigh down”), from dē- (“off, away, down, out”) + premō (“to press”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).