Based partly on the Latin iacere, "to throw", dejection means literally "cast down"—that is, "downcast". Like melancholy, gloom, and even sadness, dejection seems to have been declining in use for many years; instead, we now seem to prefer depression (whose roots mean basically "a pressing down"). Since depression is also the word used by doctors, lots of people now assume that anyone depressed should be taking an antidepressant; if we went back to dejected and dejection, we might not be so quick to make that assumption.
I find that ice cream often works wonders when trying to overcome dejection.
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The waves of emotions — from dejection to hope to numbness to jubilation (for him) and relief (for me) — are something neither of us will forget.—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2025 After generations of thankless activism that brought more ridicule than results, and more dejection than hope, suddenly gays and lesbians have found themselves on the winning side of a string of court verdicts and legislative and ballot-box battles.—Wayne Pacelle, Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2015 All that positivity evaporated in the opening seconds on Saturday, with that hope being replaced by anger, recrimination and dejection.—Rob Tanner, The Athletic, 3 Feb. 2025 Just like that, an entire team’s optimism and energy turned into dejection and disbelief.—Dan Wiederer, Chicago Tribune, 19 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for dejection
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