# depress

> English word · Verb · IPA /dɪˈpɹɛs/ · frequency rank #34,464

## Definitions
1. To press down.
2. To make depressed, sad or bored.
3. To cause a depression or a decrease in parts of the economy.
4. To bring down or humble; to abase (pride, etc.).
5. To reduce (an equation) in a lower degree.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **dress** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/depress-vs-dress)
- **duress** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/depress-vs-duress)
- **digress** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/depress-vs-digress)
- **depressed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/depress-vs-depressed)
- **degrees** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/degrees-vs-depress)
- **dearest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dearest-vs-depress)
- **decrees** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/decrees-vs-depress)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ddepress`, `deperss`, `deppress`, `depres`, `deprress`, `deprses`, `derpess`, `dperess`, `edpress`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/depress