repressed
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of repressed
Explanation
If something is repressed, it's restrained or held in. You may be full of repressed anger toward your brother over that terrifying incident from four years ago involving the frog and your hooded sweatshirt... The adjective repressed often describes emotions, desires, or memories, especially those that are embarrassing, shameful, or scary. When an emotion is repressed, it's held inside so that you don’t have to show how you feel — or even admit to yourself how you feel. In fact, repressed emotions are those feelings that you unconsciously avoid. For example, you might not realize that you have a repressed longing for that last piece of birthday cake in the pantry. A person who has many pent-up feelings is generally said to be repressed.
Vocabulary lists containing repressed
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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President Obama's Speech at the United Nations
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Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
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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.
“They have to repress themselves. So they want others to be repressed as well. ‘How dare you live outside of this box and have freedom of choice and a comfortable, fun, beautiful life?”
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
There is, however, one dazzlingly strange interlude of repressed conflict that radiates such retro 1950s-fixated weirdness that it’s as if David Lynch took a sly pass at the “Mad Max” universe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
In the 1980s, Iraq's late ruler Saddam Hussein, who repressed the Shia population, went to war with the Islamic republic.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
“It was more that something must have just drifted into my head thinking, ‘You take two men repressed in their current life, repressed in the modern world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
He was a big, good man with a soft baritone, who ruled with easy tact a choir of repressed soloists, and who had an unerring memory for the favorite hymns of District Superintendents.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
