oppress
verb (used with object)
to burden with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints; subject to a burdensome or harsh exercise of authority or power.
had been oppressing
-
past perfect progressiveof oppress.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
I began to think her innocent, and lost some of the gloom which had been oppressing me.
From The Old Stone House and Other Stories by Anna Katharine Green
It was as though a weight, which had been oppressing him for years, had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders.
From The Night Riders A Romance of Early Montana by Ridgwell Cullum
Mr. Graham looked relieved from a burden which had been oppressing his conscience for years, and, subsiding into his arm-chair, begged the particulars of Philip's experience during the last twenty years.
From The Lamplighter by Maria S. Cummins
Its quickening truths and growing victories were undermining the gigantic usurpations and falsehoods which for ages had been oppressing our world.
From Luther and the Reformation: The Life-Springs of Our Liberties by Joseph A. Seiss
And they turned eagerly to the very autocrats who had been oppressing them.
From The Deluge by David Graham Phillips
