oppress
Americanverb (used with object)
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oppresses,
present (3rd person singular)
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oppressed,
past participle, past
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oppressing
present participle
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to burden with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints; subject to a burdensome or harsh exercise of authority or power.
a people oppressed by totalitarianism.
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to lie heavily upon (the mind, a person, etc.).
Care and sorrow oppressed them.
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to weigh down, as sleep or weariness does.
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Archaic. to put down; subdue or suppress.
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Archaic. to press upon or against; crush.
verb
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to subjugate by cruelty, force, etc
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to afflict or torment
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to lie heavy on (the mind, imagination, etc)
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an obsolete word for overwhelm
Synonym Usage
Oppress, depress, both having the literal meaning to press down upon, to cause to sink, are today mainly limited to figurative applications. To oppress is usually to subject (a people) to burdens, to undue exercise of authority, and the like; its chief application, therefore, is to a social or political situation: a tyrant oppressing his subjects. Depress suggests mainly the psychological effect, upon the individual, of unpleasant conditions, situations, etc., that sadden and discourage: depressed by the news. When oppress is sometimes used in this sense, it suggests a psychological attitude of more complete hopelessness: oppressed by a sense of failure.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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oppressornoun
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preoppressverb (used with object)
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reoppressverb (used with object)
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oppressibleadjective
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unoppressibleadjective
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oppressinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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oppresssimple
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oppressessimple
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have oppressedperfect
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has oppressedperfect
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am oppressingprogressive
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are oppressingprogressive
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is oppressingprogressive
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have been oppressingperfect progressive
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has been oppressingperfect progressive
Past
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oppressedsimple
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had oppressedperfect
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was oppressingprogressive
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were oppressingprogressive
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had been oppressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of oppress
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English oppressen, from Middle French oppresser, from Medieval Latin oppressāre, derivative of Latin oppressus, past participle of opprimere “to squeeze, suffocate,” equivalent to op- “to, toward, against” + -primere (combining form of premere ) “to press”; see origin at op-, press 1
Explanation
When you oppress someone, you use your authority to keep them down. If you oppress people long enough, they might decide to fight back and then decide to oppress YOU. There is a saying that "power corrupts," meaning that once someone gains power, they tend to misuse it in self-serving or brutal ways. Tyrants tend to oppress those beneath them, by limiting their rights. In the fairy tale Rapunzel, the evil old woman tried to oppress Rapunzel by keeping her locked in a tower. Another use of oppress means to cause to suffer. If the ninety degree heat outside will oppress you, you should stay inside in the air conditioning.
Vocabulary lists containing oppress
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
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List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"These rules lack humanity and rationality, and they oppress us every day."
From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026
And we should be aware that others who abuse the word by taking it from us intend to oppress us.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2025
“You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2024
But that doesn’t mean she’s motivated by a desire to oppress.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2024
Cecile wouldn’t tell us to smile at anyone who tried to oppress us.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
As many critics pointed out, if merely seeing a same-sex couple in a storybook oppresses Christians, then what about the rest of the world?
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2025
“We do not feel our beliefs, voices and actions belong anywhere near a space that misrepresents and oppresses people of any background, ethnicity or race.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2022
Ms. Kouchner quotes a saying dear to her father Bernard: “Between the strong and the weak, it’s liberty that oppresses and the law that liberates.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2021
He wasn't using certain language or gestures as a means of reinforcing a system that oppresses certain groups of people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2018
My own voice galls even me; it oppresses me like a silver fork scraped across porcelain.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
"There is discipline and then there is being oppressed," she says.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Years later, she testified against him, but rather than feeling empowered, she felt "oppressed and helpless" as she watched the man walk free under decades-old laws Hong Kong is now seeking to overhaul.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
An organizer, Duncan was hailed as an advocate for Nevada’s poor and racially oppressed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
He stands up in the synagogue in Nazareth and proclaims release for the captive, sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
The Youth League was marginally more friendly to the Indians and the Coloureds, stating that Indians, like Africans, were oppressed, but that Indians had India, a mother country that they could look to.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The mayor fumbled when asked in a radio show about the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim group that China has been accused of oppressing, saying “What’s a Uygher?”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 29, 2023
"You can't recruit people from the same group you are oppressing on a day-to-day basis," he says.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2023
She said she would do everything within the EU framework to reach the point of imposing sanctions against those responsible for oppressing women in Iran.
From Reuters ● Sep. 29, 2022
I want to make a film about how our society is oppressing itself.
From Salon ● Mar. 3, 2022
The fog had almost dissolved by the end of the second hour, but the day was still dark with low, oppressing clouds.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
