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Pronunciation

How to pronounce “depress”

“depress” is pronounced /dɪˈpɹɛs/ (di-PRES) in American English and /dɪpɹɛs/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “ress”.
The sound

Say “depress” in 2 beats

Say it like this

depress

/dɪˈpɹɛs/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /dɪpɹɛs/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

2 beats
  1. depdɪ
  2. resspɹɛsstress
IPA (American)
/dɪˈpɹɛs/
IPA (British)
/dɪpɹɛs/
Respelling
di-PRES
Syllables
2 — dep-RESS
Stress
Stress the second syllable: dep-RESS. “ress” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/dɪˈpɹɛs/

British

/dɪpɹɛs/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “depress” means

  1. verb

    lower someone's spirits; make downhearted

    “These news depressed her”

  2. verb

    lower (prices or markets)

    “The glut of oil depressed gas prices”

  3. verb

    cause to drop or sink

    “The lack of rain had depressed the water level in the reservoir”

Say it in a sentence

“Grey afternoons like this one depress the whole household.”
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

6 sounds, in the order you say them
ddɪshort ippɹrɛshort ess

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

“depress”, answered

How do you pronounce “depress”?

“depress” is pronounced /dɪˈpɹɛs/ (di-PRES) in American English and /dɪpɹɛs/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “ress”. Build it as dep-RESS, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “depress” have?

2: dep · ress. The beat lands on the second, “ress”.

Is “depress” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /dɪˈpɹɛs/ (di-PRES); British English says /dɪpɹɛs/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “depress” mean?

As a verb: lower someone's spirits; make downhearted For example: “These news depressed her” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “depress”?

Stress the second syllable: dep-RESS. “ress” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

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