de·pres·sive
di-ˈpre-siv 
dē-
1
: tending to depress
2
: of, relating to, marked by, or affected by psychological depression
depressive symptoms
a depressive patient
depressively
adverb
: one who is affected with or prone to psychological depression
Synonyms
Adjective
- black
- bleak
- cheerless
- chill
- Cimmerian
- cloudy
- cold
- comfortless
- dark
- darkening
- depressing
- desolate
- dire
- disconsolate
- dismal
- drear
- dreary
- dreich [chiefly Scottish]
- elegiac
- elegiacal
- forlorn
- funereal
- gloomy
- glum
- godforsaken
- gray
- grey
- lonely
- lonesome
- lugubrious
- miserable
- morbid
- morose
- murky
- plutonian
- saturnine
- sepulchral
- solemn
- somber
- sombre
- sullen
- sunless
- tenebrific
- tenebrous
- wretched
Examples of depressive in a Sentence
Adjective
the depressive story about a struggling artist
Recent Examples on the Web
Brenda Goodman, CNN, 1 Nov. 2024
While both psilocybin and escitalopram showed comparable improvement in depressive symptoms, people who took psilocybin reported greater joy in their lives — a significant plus in keeping depression at bay.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024
Lydia Denworth, Scientific American, 25 June 2024
People living with bipolar cycle through manic or hypomanic (too much energy) and depressive (little to no energy) mood states, McInnis told me.
—Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for depressive 
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Adjective
What’s more, twice as many people in the group that got the active treatment reported remission of their depressive symptoms compared with people in the placebo group: 45% vs. 22%.
—Brenda Goodman, CNN, 1 Nov. 2024
While both psilocybin and escitalopram showed comparable improvement in depressive symptoms, people who took psilocybin reported greater joy in their lives — a significant plus in keeping depression at bay.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 22 Oct. 2024
Noun
In the first years of the pandemic, the percentage of young people with depressive and anxiety symptoms doubled.
—Lydia Denworth, Scientific American, 25 June 2024
People living with bipolar cycle through manic or hypomanic (too much energy) and depressive (little to no energy) mood states, McInnis told me.
—Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times, 1 Aug. 2023
See all Example Sentences for depressive
Dictionary Entries Near depressive
Cite this Entry
“Depressive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/depressive. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
depressive
1 of 2 adjective
de·pres·sive
di-ˈpres-iv
1
: tending to depress
2
: of, relating to, marked by, or affected by psychological depression
the patient was paranoid and depressive
depressive symptoms
depressive
2 of 2 noun
: one who is affected with or prone to psychological depression
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