depression

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

I

n. recession, slowdown.

II

Pressing downward

Nouns

1. depression, lowering; dip (see concavity); abasement, debasement; reduction.

2. overthrow, overset, overturn; upset; prostration, subversion, precipitation.

3. (lowering) bow; curtsy; genuflection, kowtow, obeisance. See respect.

Verbs

1. depress, lower; let or take down, take down a peg; cast; let drop or fall; sink, debase, bring low, abase, reduce, pitch, precipitate; dent (see concavity).

2. (press down) overthrow, overturn, overset; upset, subvert, prostrate, level, fell; cast, take, throw, fling, dash, pull, cut, or knock down, lay out; raze [to the ground]; trample in the dust; pull about one's ears.

3. (lower oneself) sit [down]; couch, crouch, squat, stoop, bend, bow; courtesy, curtsey; bob, duck, dip, kneel; bend, bow the head, bend the knee; slouch; bow down; cower.

Adjectives — depressed; at a low ebb; prostrate, overthrown; downcast.

Antonyms, see elevation.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Something lower than its surroundings]

Syn. cavity, dip, sink; see dent , hole 2 .

2. [Low spirits]

Syn. despair, despondency, sadness, sorrow, unhappiness, gloom, dejection, melancholy, misery, wretchedness, trouble, mortification, worry, discouragement, dispiritedness, hopelessness, pessimism, distress, desperation, desolation, dreariness, heaviness of spirit, dullness, disconsolation, downheartedness, woefulness, lugubriousness, moroseness, cheerlessness, disconsolateness, melancholia, dolor, dolefulness, darkness, bleakness, oppression, low-spiritedness, lowness, gloominess, glumness, disheartenment, hypochondria, vapors, malaise, clinical depression, dysthymia, slough of despond, Weltschmerz (German), doldrums, dumps*, mulligrubs*, blues*, blue devils*, horrors*, blue funk*, blahs*; see also gloom 2 , grief 1 , sadness .

Ant. joy*, elation, satisfaction.

3. [Period of commercial stress]

Syn. economic decline, recession, slump, economic downturn, unemployment, slack times, hard times, bad times, inflation, crisis, overproduction, retrenchment, slowdown, economic dislocation, economic paralysis, economic stagnation, financial storm, business inactivity, panic, crash*, bust*, Black Friday*, stagflation*; see also bankruptcy .

Ant. prosperity*, good times, boom.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

1. downheartedness melancholia, blues, dejection, unhappiness, sadness, doldrums, *blahs, *blue funk, sorrow, heavyheartedness, despair, gloom, affective disorder, mood disorder, depressive neurosis, depressive psychosis, manic-depression, malaise, hopelessness, postpartum depression, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), withdrawal.

2. economic decline recession, slowdown, downturn.

3. hollow dent, impression, indentation, recess, concavity.

ANT.: 1. euphoria, happiness, joy, bliss. 3. boom, good times

WORD FIND

• childbirth, following: postpartum depression

• medication: antidepressants

• radical treatment: electroshock therapy

• winter blues treated with light therapy: seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. An area sunk below its surroundings: basin, concavity, dip, hollow, pit1, sag, sink, sinkhole. See CONVEX. 2. A feeling or spell of dismally low spirits: blues, dejection, despondence, despondency, doldrums, dolefulness, downheartedness, dumps, dysphoria, funk, gloom, glumness, heavy-heartedness, melancholy, mope (used in plural), mournfulness, sadness, unhappiness. See FEELINGS, HAPPY. 3. A period of decreased business activity and high unemployment: recession, slump. See RICH.