depression

The act of pressing down on something is called making a depression, and when people suffer from psychological depression that is often what it feels like — the world itself is pressing down on them.

Depression can be a persistent mood (rotten), an economic situation (the worst), or just the geography (low). The Great Depression was when poor policy and economic circumstances combined to create a long period of time everyone struggled to even get food on the table.

Definitions of depression
  1. noun
    a sunken or depressed geological formation
    synonyms: natural depression
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    Antonyms:
    elevation, natural elevation
    a raised or elevated geological formation
    examples:
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    Nemea
    a valley in southeastern Greece where the Nemean Games were held
    Lowlands of Scotland
    the southern part of Scotland that is not mountainous
    Aristarchus
    a bright crater on the Moon
    Atacama Trench
    a depression in the floor of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile
    Bougainville Trench
    a depression in the floor of the Pacific Ocean between New Guinea and the Solomon Islands
    Cataract Canyon
    a tributary of the Grand Canyon
    Copernicus
    a conspicuous crater on the Moon
    Grand Canyon
    the enormous gorge of the Colorado River in northern Arizona
    Great Rift Valley
    ( geology) a depression in southwestern Asia and eastern Africa; extends from the valley of the Jordan River to Mozambique; marked by geological faults
    Japan Trench
    a depression in the floor of the Pacific Ocean to the northeast of Japan that reaches depths of 30,000 feet
    Loire Valley
    the valley of the Loire River where many French wines originated
    Nares Deep
    a depression in the floor of the Atlantic Ocean to the north of Haiti and Puerto Rico
    Olduvai Gorge
    a gorge in northeastern Tanzania where anthropologists have found some of the earliest human remains
    San Fernando Valley
    a fertile valley in southern California to the north of Los Angeles; includes many residential communities
    San Joaquin Valley
    a vast valley in central California known for its rich farmland
    Shenandoah Valley
    a large valley between the Allegheny Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains in northern Virginia; site of numerous battles during the American Civil War
    types:
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    basin
    a natural depression in the surface of the land often with a lake at the bottom of it
    bed, bottom
    a depression forming the ground under a body of water
    crater
    a bowl-shaped depression formed by the impact of a meteorite or bomb
    hole, hollow
    a depression hollowed out of solid matter
    lowland
    low level country
    sink, sinkhole, swallow hole
    a depression in the ground communicating with a subterranean passage (especially in limestone) and formed by solution or by collapse of a cavern roof
    deep, oceanic abyss, trench
    a long steep-sided depression in the ocean floor
    trough
    a narrow depression (as in the earth or between ocean waves or in the ocean bed)
    vale, valley
    a long depression in the surface of the land that usually contains a river
    burrow, tunnel
    a hole made by an animal, usually for shelter
    cirque, corrie, cwm
    a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain; may contain a lake
    collector
    a crater that has collected cosmic material hitting the earth
    dale
    an open river valley (in a hilly area)
    glen
    a narrow secluded valley (in the mountains)
    gopher hole
    a hole in the ground made by gophers
    gully
    deep ditch cut by running water (especially after a prolonged downpour)
    holler, hollow
    a small valley between mountains
    kettle, kettle hole
    (geology) a hollow (typically filled by a lake) that results from the melting of a mass of ice trapped in glacial deposits
    lake bed, lake bottom
    the bottom of a lake
    landfill
    a low area that has been filled in
    lunar crater
    a crater on the Earth's Moon
    nullah
    a ravine or gully in southern Asia
    Davy Jones, Davy Jones's locker, ocean bottom, ocean floor, sea bottom, sea floor, seabed
    the bottom of a sea or ocean
    cavity, pit
    a sizeable hole (usually in the ground)
    chuckhole, pothole
    a pit or hole produced by wear or weathering (especially in a road surface)
    rabbit burrow, rabbit hole
    a hole in the ground as a nest made by wild rabbits
    ravine
    a deep narrow steep-sided valley (especially one formed by running water)
    rift valley
    a valley with steep sides; formed by a rift in the earth's crust
    river bottom, riverbed
    a channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a river
    saltpan
    a shallow basin in a desert region; contains salt and gypsum that was deposited by an evaporated salt lake
    creek bed, streambed
    a channel occupied (or formerly occupied) by a stream
    swale
    a low area (especially a marshy area between ridges)
    tidal basin
    a basin that is full of water at high tide
    wormhole
    hole made by a burrowing worm
    type of:
    formation, geological formation
    (geology) the geological features of the earth
  2. noun
    a concavity in a surface produced by pressing
    synonyms: impression, imprint
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    types:
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    dimple
    a small natural hollow in the cheek or chin
    channel, groove
    a long narrow furrow cut either by a natural process (such as erosion) or by a tool (as e.g. a groove in a phonograph record)
    dimple
    any slight depression in a surface
    dip
    a depression in an otherwise level surface
    dent, incision, prick, scratch, slit
    a depression scratched or carved into a surface
    droop, sag
    a shape that sags
    crease, crinkle, furrow, line, seam, wrinkle
    a slight depression in the smoothness of a surface
    chap, crack, cranny, crevice, fissure
    a long narrow depression in a surface
    dado
    a rectangular groove cut into a board so that another piece can fit into it
    flute, fluting
    a groove or furrow in cloth etc (particularly a shallow concave groove on the shaft of a column)
    quirk
    a narrow groove beside a beading
    rabbet, rebate
    a rectangular groove made to hold two pieces together
    track
    a groove on a phonograph recording
    rut
    a groove or furrow (especially one in soft earth caused by wheels)
    score, scotch
    a slight surface cut (especially a notch that is made to keep a tally)
    crow's feet, crow's foot, laugh line
    a wrinkle in the skin at the outer corner of your eyes
    dermatoglyphic
    the lines that form patterns on the skin (especially on the fingertips and the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet)
    frown line
    a facial wrinkle associated with frowning
    life line, lifeline, line of life
    a crease on the palm; its length is said by palmists to indicate how long you will live
    heart line, line of heart, love line, mensal line
    a crease on the palm; palmists say it indicates your emotional nature
    line of Saturn, line of destiny, line of fate
    a crease on the palm; palmists say it indicates how successful you will be
    stria, striation
    any of a number of tiny parallel grooves such as: the scratches left by a glacier on rocks or the streaks or ridges in muscle tissue
    washout
    the channel or break produced by erosion of relatively soft soil by water
    type of:
    concave shape, concavity, incurvation, incurvature
    a shape that curves or bends inward
  3. noun
    pushing down
    “depression of the space bar on the typewriter”
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    types:
    click, mouse click
    depression of a button on a computer mouse
    type of:
    push, pushing
    the act of applying force in order to move something away
  4. noun
    angular distance below the horizon (especially of a celestial object)
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    type of:
    angular position
    relation by which any position with respect to any other position is established
  5. noun
    an air mass of lower pressure; often brings precipitation
    synonyms: low
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    type of:
    air mass
    a large body of air with uniform characteristics horizontally
  6. noun
    a mental state characterized by a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity
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    Antonyms:
    elation
    an exhilarating psychological state of pride and optimism; an absence of depression
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    melancholia
    extreme depression characterized by tearful sadness and irrational fears
    blue devils, blues, megrims, vapors, vapours
    a state of depression
    blue funk, funk
    a state of nervous depression
    melancholy
    a constitutional tendency to be gloomy and depressed
    slough of despond
    (formal) extreme depression
    low spirits
    a state of mild depression
    dejection
    a state of melancholy depression
    dumps, mopes
    an informal expression for a mildly depressed state
    type of:
    mental condition, mental state, psychological condition, psychological state
    (psychology) a mental condition in which the qualities of a state are relatively constant even though the state itself may be dynamic
  7. noun
    sad feelings of gloom and inadequacy
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    types:
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    demoralisation, demoralization
    depression resulting from an undermining of your morale
    helplessness
    a feeling of being unable to manage
    despondence, despondency, disconsolateness, heartsickness
    feeling downcast and disheartened and hopeless
    oppression, oppressiveness
    a feeling of being oppressed
    dysphoria
    abnormal depression and discontent
    weight
    an oppressive feeling of heavy force
    type of:
    sadness, unhappiness
    emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being
  8. noun
    a state of depression and anhedonia so severe as to require clinical intervention
    synonyms: clinical depression, depressive disorder
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    types:
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    agitated depression
    a state of clinical depression in which the person exhibits irritability and restlessness
    anaclitic depression
    severe and progressive depression in infants who lose their mother and do not get a suitable substitute
    dysthymia, dysthymic depression
    mild chronic depression
    endogenous depression
    a state of depression for which there is no apparent precipitating cause
    exogenous depression, reactive depression
    an inappropriate state of depression that is precipitated by events in the person's life (to be distinguished from normal grief)
    major depressive episode
    (psychiatry) a state of depression with all the classic symptoms (anhedonia and lethargy and sleep disturbance and despondency and morbid thoughts and feelings of worthlessness and sometimes attempted suicide) but with no known organic dysfunction
    neurotic depression
    a term used for any state of depression that is not psychotic
    psychotic depression
    a state of depression so severe that the person loses contact with reality and suffers a variety of functional impairments
    retarded depression
    a state of clinical depression in which the individual is lethargic and slow to initiate action
    involutional depression
    a major depressive episode associated with the climacteric
    unipolar depression
    a major depressive episode that occurs without the manic phase that occurs in the classic form of bipolar disorder
    type of:
    affective disorder, emotional disorder, emotional disturbance, major affective disorder
    any mental disorder not caused by detectable organic abnormalities of the brain and in which a major disturbance of emotions is predominant
  9. noun
    a long-term economic state characterized by unemployment and low prices and low levels of trade and investment
    synonyms: economic crisis, slump
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    examples:
    Great Depression
    the economic crisis beginning with the stock market crash in 1929 and continuing through the 1930s
    type of:
    crisis
    an unstable situation of extreme danger or difficulty
    economic condition
    the condition of the economy
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