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Definition of "depressive" []

  • Tending to depress or lower. (adjective)
  • Depressing; gloomy: "Americans entertained the depressive thought that they had ceased to be themselves” ( Lance Morrow). (adjective)
  • Of or relating to psychological depression. (adjective)
  • A person suffering from psychological depression. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "depressive" in a sentence
  • "This chapter is devoted to a discussion of the specific set of behaviors and feelings that make up what we call the depressive syndrome."
  • "Ladislav von Meduna started seizure therapy by intravenous injection of cardiazol (in depressive states), a therapy that was abandoned when in 1938 the Italians Cerletti and Bini introduced electric convulsive therapy, E.C.T., for severe mental states."
  • "Nolen-Hoeksema’s research clearly shows that this kind of thinking—which she calls depressive rumination—quickly deteriorates into a vicious downward spiral that exacerbates the severity and length of depression."