How to pronounce "depress" in English
dɪˈprɛs
dih·PRES
Primary stress: PRES
Hear native speakers say depress in context across real video clips
Linguistic Pronunciation Masterclass: “depress”
Phonetic mechanics, syllable architecture, and conversational cadence
Syllable Architecture & Stress Distribution
dih
Reduced vowel sound, relaxed jaw, and minimal vocal effort.
PRES
Elevated pitch, sustained vowel length, and full acoustic clarity.
Primary emphasis falls on the second syllable ("PRES"). Raise your pitch and sustain the vowel length on this syllable while relaxing the surrounding syllables.
Common Pronunciation Traps & Learner Mistakes
The Trap: Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels.
How Native Speakers Say It: Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).
Connected Speech & Natural Conversational Flow
When "depress" is followed by a word starting with a vowel, glide the final consonant into the opening vowel (e.g. "depress is" sounds like "depress-iz").
In natural sentences, avoid over-stressing "depress" unless it conveys the core contrast or focal point of your message.
Authentic Spoken Quotes from Native Video Context
“Can depress You can decrease your depression, can make you feel more satisfied than deprived.”— TEDx TalksWatch clip
“Depress, and then take the juice, and away you go.”— MIT OpenCourseWareWatch clip
“um depress people were most likely to ruminate and they had a lot of difficulties to reappraise um so to find new inter interpretation for an”— YaleCoursesWatch clip
“necessarily depress turnup it's like watching good hard- hitting football it depends if it's something worth fighting for Americans have fought for lots of”— Harvard UniversityWatch clip
“the depress on I don't know if you spend too many days in in Washington DC you can have brief moments where you wonder”— WIREDWatch clip
“Maybe you should depress yourself a little bit so you can focus and you can converge your thoughts.”— Native SpeakerWatch clip
Practice Speaking “depress”
Listen to native pronunciation, record yourself repeating the sentence into your microphone, and receive real-time word-by-word accuracy scoring.
Can depress You can decrease your depression, can make you feel more satisfied than deprived.
Hear it in context: “depress”
228 clipsThe English word “depress” is transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) as dɪˈprɛs (phonetic respelling: dih-PRES). Phonologically, it consists of 2 syllables (dih · PRES), with primary lexical stress placed on the 2nd syllable (PRES). Grammatically, “depress” functions as a verb. SayItVid indexes 228 authentic English video clips demonstrating how native speakers articulate “depress” in natural connected speech across American (US: 8 sampled), British (UK), and Australian (AUS) accents, including verified broadcasts from TEDx Talks, MIT OpenCourseWare, YaleCourses.
Spoken Video Transcripts & Contextual Quotes (5 Verified Clips)
- 🇺🇸 USTEDx TalksClip #1 · @7:42
“your life, that's been shown. Can depress You can decrease your depression, can make you feel more satisfied than deprived. depression, can make you feel more”
- 🇺🇸 USMIT OpenCourseWareClip #2 · @31:24
“The Pinot Noir grape has a black skin. Depress, and then take the juice, and away you go. What she did, is she let the skin sit with the juice for”
- 🇺🇸 USYaleCoursesClip #3 · @14:52
“versus depression um and the results there were very very interesting in that um depress people were most likely to ruminate and they had a lot of difficulties to reappraise um so to find new inter interpretation for an difficulties to reappraise um so to find new inter interpretation for an”
- 🇺🇸 USHarvard UniversityClip #4 · @62:41
“um father of the attack ad I think some effective yeah well is that they don't necessarily depress turnup it's like watching good hard- hitting football it depends if it's something worth fighting for Americans have fought for lots of depends if it's something worth fighting for Americans have fought for lots of”
- 🇺🇸 USWIREDClip #5 · @0:15
“just your both your nature is just the the depress on I don't know if you spend too many days in in Washington DC you can have brief moments where you wonder too many days in in Washington DC you”
Definition & Meaning: “depress”
- To press down.
- To make depressed, sad or bored.
Example Sentences (3)
- “Depress the upper lever to start the machine.”
- “Winter depresses me.”
- “Can depress You can decrease your depression, can make you feel more satisfied than deprived.”
Common Phrases & Collocations
Pronounce: “depress”
- Pronunciation:
- dih-PRES
- Syllables:
- dih · PRES
- Written Hyphenation:
- de · press
- Primary stress:
- PRES
- IPA:
- dɪˈprɛs
- Hear it in context
- depress
Synonyms: “depress”
Hear words related in meaning to “depress” in real video clips:
Words that Rhyme with “depress”
-ɛsWords that Sound Identical (Homophones)
Unique Sound"depress" (⁄dɪˈprɛs⁄) has no true homophones in standard English — there are no other words with identical pronunciation. Unlike sound-alike pairs like there / their or peace / piece, "depress" has a completely distinct phonetic identity.
Frequently asked questions about depress
How do you pronounce “depress”?
“depress” is pronounced ⁄dɪˈprɛs⁄ (dih-PRES). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation.
How many syllables are in “depress”?
“depress” has 2 syllables: dih · PRES.
Where is the stress in “depress”?
The primary stress in “depress” is on “PRES”. Listen for that stressed syllable in the clips above.
What does “depress” mean?
To press down.
How can I hear “depress” used in real sentences?
This page has 228 real-world video examples of “depress” with synchronized subtitles. Use Previous / Next (or ← / → keys) to hear each one at the exact moment it is spoken.
What is the most common pronunciation mistake when saying “depress”?
Avoid pronouncing every vowel with full acoustic weight. Non-native speakers often over-enunciate unstressed vowels. Only give full vowel clarity to the primary stressed syllable. Relax all unstressed vowels into a neutral, low-energy schwa (⁄ə⁄).