oppress

[uh-pres]

See more synonyms for oppress on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

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.
to lie heavily upon (the mind, a person, etc.): Care and sorrow oppressed them.
to weigh down, as sleep or weariness does.

Archaic. to put down; subdue or suppress.
Archaic. to press upon or against; crush.

Origin of oppress

1300–50; Middle English oppressen < Middle French oppresser < Medieval Latin oppressāre, derivative of Latin oppressus past participle of opprimere to squeeze, suffocate, equivalent to op- op- + -primere (combining form of premere) to press¹

Related formsop·press·i·ble, adjectiveop·pres·sor, nounpre·op·press, verb (used with object)pre·op·pres·sor, nounre·op·press, verb (used with object)self-op·pres·sor, nounun·op·pressed, adjectiveun·op·press·i·ble, adjective

Can be confusedoppress repress

Synonyms for oppress

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1, 2. 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. 1. maltreat, persecute.

Antonyms for oppress

2. uphold, encourage.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for oppress

annoy, afflict, torture, overwhelm, suppress, vex, trample, maltreat, harass, persecute, subjugate, torment, force, distress, dispirit, tax, smother, strain, hound, worry

Examples from the Web for oppress

Contemporary Examples of oppress

Instead, it was proof the government is out to oppress them.
The Christian Right’s New GOTV Motivator
Sarah Posner
November 7, 2014
Few will be heartened by the fact that the debt will oppress race-neutrally.
Did Needs-Blind Admission Create the College Debt Crisis?
John McWhorter
July 6, 2014
Sure, as Sotomayor wrote, “democratically approved legislation can oppress minority groups.”
Affirmative Action Isn’t Oppressive, but the Roberts Court Wants to End It Anyway
Mike Sacks
April 23, 2014
You can only oppress a community for so long before they will fight with toothpicks against machine guns.
Sanford Mourns the Loss of Trayvon All Over Again
Jacqui Goddard
July 14, 2013
Hamas claims to be fighting for freedom while invoking laws that oppress women and religious minorities.
Don’t Tread On My Hair, Hamas
Maysoon Zayid
April 4, 2013

Historical Examples of oppress

And do they not make use of your own generosity to oppress you?
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
How you oppress me, my dearest friend, with your politeness!
Clarissa, Volume 1 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
But I will not oppress you, my dearest friend, with further reflections of this sort.
Clarissa, Volume 2 (of 9)
Samuel Richardson
White Fang knew the law well: to oppress the weak and obey the strong.
White Fang
Jack London
The code he learned was to obey the strong and to oppress the weak.
White Fang
Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for oppress

oppress

verb (tr)

to subjugate by cruelty, force, etc
to afflict or torment
to lie heavy on (the mind, imagination, etc)
an obsolete word for overwhelm

Derived Formsoppressingly, adverboppressor, noun

Word Origin for oppress

C14: via Old French from Medieval Latin oppressāre, from Latin opprimere, from ob- against + premere to press

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for oppress

mid-14c., from Old French opresser "oppress, afflict; torment, smother" (13c.), from Medieval Latin oppressare, frequentative of Latin opprimere "press against, press together, press down;" figuratively "crush, put down, subdue, prosecute relentlessly" (in Late Latin "to rape"), from ob "against" (see ob-) + premere "to press, push" (see press (v.1)).

It is the due [external] restraint and not the moderation of rulers that constitutes a state of liberty; as the power to oppress, though never exercised, does a state of slavery. [St. George Tucker, "View of the Constitution of the United States," 1803]

Related: Oppressed; oppressing.