depressant
/dɪˈpɹɛsənt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.57 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A pharmacological substance which decreases neuronal or physiological activity.
Countable; Uncountable
adj
Example Sentences
- "Alcohol acts first as a stimulant and then as a depressant."
- "The prescription painkiller Emily Jackson took is a respiratory depressant that slows breathing. That in combination with the alcohol, another respiratory depressant, overwhelmed her brain, which stopped giving her heart and lungs the signal to keep functioning."
- "On the opposite end of the drug side effect spectrum are downers. This slang term refers to CNS depressants, the types of drugs that produce a sedative effect by slowing down the messages sent and received between the central nervous system and the brain."
- "the conception of the asomatous depressant malaria"
Etymology
Etymology tree English depress Proto-Indo-European *-onts Latin -ns Latin -āns Old French -antbor. Proto-Indo-European *-onts Proto-Germanic *-ndz Proto-West Germanic *-andī Old English -ende Middle English -ant English -ant English depressant From depress + -ant.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dɪˈpɹɛsənt/
- British English: /dɪˈpɹɛsənt/