depressant

English

Etymology

From depress +‎ -ant.

Pronunciation

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /dɪˈpɹɛsənt/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛsənt

Noun

depressant (countable and uncountable, plural depressants)

  1. (pharmacology) A pharmacological substance which decreases neuronal or physiological activity.
    Alcohol acts first as a stimulant and then as a depressant.
    • 2012 November 15, Maxwell Newfield, “Prescription drug deaths: Two stories”, in CNN‎[1]:
      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.
    • 2024 April 10 [2020 August 27], Nick B., “Which Drugs Are Uppers And Downers?”, in The Freedom Center‎[2]:
      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.
  2. (mining) An agent that inhibits the flotation of a mineral or minerals.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

depressant (comparative more depressant, superlative most depressant)

  1. (pharmacology) Reducing functional or nervous activity.
    • 1876, Alfred Alexander Woodhull, Studies, chiefly clinical […] :
      the conception of the asomatous depressant malaria
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