Meaning & use

depressing

adjective·Everyday

Causing feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or low spirits.

See it in a sentence

The news reports about the flood were so depressing that she turned off the television.

Working alone in that gray, windowless office all winter felt genuinely depressing.

A note on using this word

Depressing describes what causes low mood, whereas depressed describes the person experiencing it; the two are easy to confuse.

Words with a similar meaning

gloomydispiritingbleak

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

upliftingcheering

Make it your own

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