suppress
Americanverb (used with object)
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to put an end to the activities of (a person, body of persons, etc.).
to suppress the Communist and certain left-leaning parties.
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to do away with by or as by authority; abolish; stop (a practice, custom, etc.).
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to keep in or repress (a feeling, smile, groan, etc.).
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to withhold from disclosure or publication (truth, evidence, a book, names, etc.).
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to stop or arrest (a flow, hemorrhage, cough, etc.).
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to vanquish or subdue (a revolt, rebellion, etc.); quell; crush.
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Genetics. to keep (a gene) from being expressed.
Let's say that future genetic engineers discover a gene for suicidal depression, and learn how to suppress the gene or adjust it.
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Electricity. to reduce or eliminate (an irregular or undesired oscillation or frequency) in a circuit.
verb
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to put an end to; prohibit
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to hold in check; restrain
I was obliged to suppress a smile
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to withhold from circulation or publication
to suppress seditious pamphlets
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to stop the activities of; crush
to suppress a rebellion
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electronics
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to reduce or eliminate (unwanted oscillations) in a circuit
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to eliminate (a particular frequency or group of frequencies) in a signal
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psychiatry
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to resist consciously (an idea or a desire entering one's mind)
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to exercise self-control by preventing the expression of (certain desires) Compare repress
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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suppressernoun
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self-suppressiveadjective
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suppressiveadjective
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nonsuppressivelyadverb
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self-suppressingadjective
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nonsuppressivenessnoun
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suppressibleadjective
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presuppressverb (used with object)
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resuppressverb (used with object)
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nonsuppressiveadjective
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suppressivelyadverb
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suppressornoun
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unsuppressiveadjective
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unsuppressibleadjective
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has suppressedperfect 3rd person singular
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have suppressedperfect
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am suppressingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been suppressingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are suppressingprogressive
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have been suppressingperfect progressive
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is suppressingprogressive 3rd person singular
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suppressingparticiple
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suppressessingular 3rd person
Past
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had suppressedperfect
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were suppressingprogressive plural
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had been suppressingperfect progressive
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was suppressingprogressive singular
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suppressedparticiple
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suppressedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of suppress
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English suppressen, from Latin suppressus (past participle of supprimere “to press down”), equivalent to sup- sup- + pressus ( see press 1)
Explanation
To suppress something means to curb, inhibit, or even stop it. If the sound of your boss moving in his chair sounds like gas, you’re going to have to learn how to suppress your giggles. In the strictest sense, suppress means to put an end to something by force, like a government that suppresses the right to free speech by shutting down the newspapers or the military suppressing an uprising by rebel forces. But we also use suppress in less serious terms to describe an attempt to muffle or stifle something, such as suppressing a sneeze in a quiet theater or suppressing your true emotions to not cause a teary scene.
Vocabulary lists containing suppress
The Giver
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Animal Farm
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The Maze Runner
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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.
In April, Akram lost a court bid to suppress the identity of his immediate family due to safety concerns.
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
Strong majorities of Californians believe democracy is under attack and support enacting a new state Voting Rights Act to prohibit discrimination and efforts to suppress voting, a poll showed.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026
So viewers were understandably skeptical that the corporation had lovingly funded an anti-corporate guerrilla comedy special only to immediately suppress its circulation online.
From Salon • May 27, 2026
In other words, what an AI tells you can be shaped by what it absorbed while learning—and by what authorities later told it to suppress.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
He was struggling to suppress a smile, and there was a very light flush creeping up his neck.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
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.
