suppressed
Americanadjective
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stopped or kept from carrying on normal activity.
In the late 1700s, all members of the suppressed Jesuit Order flocked to Rome from other European countries where they were not tolerated.
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kept in or repressed, as a laugh, feeling, thought, etc..
I heard a suppressed giggle from under the bed.
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withheld from disclosure or publication.
There is a reasonable probability that the suppressed evidence would have produced a different verdict.
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stopped or arrested, as a cough, bodily process, etc..
Their study examines how viral therapy combined with a suppressed immune response could be more effective against solid tumors.
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vanquished or subdued; quelled.
Six casino workers were killed in a brutally suppressed strike.
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done away with or abolished, by or as by authority.
Generations later, descendants of the colonists have generally accepted the formerly suppressed practice of tattooing.
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kept from being expressed genetically.
The promise of reversing sickle cell disease symptoms by reactivating a suppressed gene has attracted considerable interest.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of suppressed
Explanation
If something is suppressed, it has been kept secret or forcibly restricted. You may hear rumors about a suppressed report on a politician's activities — it's kept secret, so you don't know the facts. It doesn't always take an outside force to make something suppressed — you can do it yourself. You might occasionally have a suppressed feeling of rage. (Psychiatrists, who are in the business of bringing such feelings to light, might frown on this.) Sometimes something that's suppressed is also oppressed — that is, harshly put down or brutally controlled, like a suppressed minority group. Both suppressed and oppressed come from the same Latin word, opprimere, meaning "to press against, or crush."
Vocabulary lists containing suppressed
The Hobbit
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A Long Way Gone
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Uglies
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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.
Rather than appearing to reactivate because the immune system had been suppressed, these viruses seemed to become active in response to inflammation.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
Public shows of dissent have been suppressed by wartime censorship laws and can trigger hefty fines or long prison sentences.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Treasury yields took another step lower as hostilities remained suppressed in the Strait of Hormuz.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Pyziur also noted that oil prices have been suppressed in part because China slashed its own imports of oil.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
However, when you wish to hold on to it this is accompanied by endless problems, both with those who have helped you and with those you have suppressed.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
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.
