depressing
/dɪˈpɹɛsɪŋ/adjective, verb
depressing is spelled D-E-P-R-E-S-S-I-N-G: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, depressing means “Causing depression or sadness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in depressing?
| Letters | 10: D-E-P-R-E-S-S-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is depressing?
Depressing appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th 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 depressing?
- UK /dɪˈpɹɛsɪŋ(ɡ)/
- US /dɪˈpɹɛsɪŋ/
Depressing has 3 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-depressing.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of depressing
- more depressing comparative
- most depressing superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does depressing mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Causing depression or sadness.
The television news was depressing, so rather than start crying I turned it off.
- 2
Causing a reduction in economic activity.
The policy may have a depressing effect on some branches of industry.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of depress
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Depressing in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense causing depression or sadness:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | déprimant |
| German | deprimierend, bedrückend |
| Portuguese | deprimente |
| Spanish | deprimente |
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.