What does depressible mean?
Depressible means capable of being depressed, with the word's grammatical structure making that literal meaning especially clear. Its most common use is technical or mechanical: a depressible button, key, switch, or surface is one that can be pushed downward. Less commonly, depressible can describe a person who is susceptible to becoming depressed or losing hope under pressure. This sense is more literary and less frequent than the mechanical one and may sound old-fashioned or clinical today. The adjective should not be confused with depressed, which describes an existing state of sadness or lowered condition, or with depressive, which commonly denotes a mood-disorder symptom or something that causes depression. Depressible is useful when precision matters, especially in technical descriptions where an object is designed to move or sink when pressure is applied. It belongs to the wider family of depress, depression, and depressive, all ultimately connected with the idea of pressing down.
adjectiveCapable of being depressed or pushed down. In psychological contexts, it means liable or susceptible to becoming depressed.
- Capable of being pushed or lowered downward, especially mechanically.
- Liable or susceptible to becoming depressed in mood or spirits.
"The keypad has a depressible key that clicks when it is pressed."
"The keypad has a depressible key that clicks when it is pressed."
"The instrument's depressible membrane responded to the lightest touch."
Depressible contains an unusually literal instruction: it means able to be depressed, including being physically pushed down.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does depressible come from?
Depressible was formed in English by adding the suffix -ible, meaning “able to be,” to depress. The verb depress came through Old French from Latin deprimere, formed from de-, meaning “down,” and premere, meaning “to press.” Its wider Latin family includes pressure, compression, suppression, and impression, all of which involve related ideas of pressing.
Related word forms
How depressible is actually used
The word is relatively rare and is most often formal or technical. Its psychological sense sounds dated or clinical, and modern usage generally favors vulnerable to depression or prone to depression.
Easily confused with depressible
Depressed describes a person or thing that is already experiencing sadness or has been lowered, whereas depressible describes something capable of being depressed.
Depressive normally relates to depression or acts as a noun for a mood-disorder symptom, while depressible means able or liable to be depressed.