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
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 22 Jan. 2025
Zinc deficiency is correlated to depressive symptoms, anxiety-like behaviors, and even higher suicidal ideation risk.
—Amiah Taylor, Discover Magazine, 25 Dec. 2024
Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 22 Jan. 2025
None of these efforts seem to come to anything, and the requisite pause of anticipation and subsequent depressive or angry reaction informs the bulk of the character dynamics at play here.
—Ryan Swen, Variety, 18 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for depressive 
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Adjective
However, medication involving the anesthetic, ketamine, has shown promise in recent years for treating these hard-to-resolve depressive symptoms.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 22 Jan. 2025
Zinc deficiency is correlated to depressive symptoms, anxiety-like behaviors, and even higher suicidal ideation risk.
—Amiah Taylor, Discover Magazine, 25 Dec. 2024
Noun
An imbalance in a person’s glutamate levels can lead to exhaustion, concentration issues, and clinical depressive problems.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 22 Jan. 2025
None of these efforts seem to come to anything, and the requisite pause of anticipation and subsequent depressive or angry reaction informs the bulk of the character dynamics at play here.
—Ryan Swen, Variety, 18 Jan. 2025
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 2 Feb. 2025.
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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