oppression
Americannoun
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the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.
- Synonyms:
- persecution, despotism, tyranny
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an act or instance of oppressing or subjecting to cruel or unjust impositions or restraints.
-
the state of being oppressed.
-
the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, anxiety, etc.
noun
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the act of subjugating by cruelty, force, etc or the state of being subjugated in this way
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the condition of being afflicted or tormented
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the condition of having something lying heavily on one's mind, imagination, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of oppression
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English oppressioun, from Middle French, from Latin oppressiōn-, stem of oppressiō “a pressing down,” equivalent to oppress(us) “pressed down” + -iō noun suffix; see oppress, -ion
Explanation
Oppression is when a person or group in a position of power controls the less powerful in cruel and unfair ways. Not cool. “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” Those words came from Frederick Douglass, a former slave who devoted his life to ending the oppression of black people at the hands of powerful white slaveowners. The Latin root means “pressed against,” and oppression feels like hands pressing your head, keeping you down. Oppression can be widespread throughout a culture, or felt by a single individual, like enduring the sun’s oppression on a hot summer day.
Vocabulary lists containing oppression
Figurative Language in King's "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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"I Have a Dream" by Martin Luther King Jr.
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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.
Herta Müller’s account of growing up in Ceaușescu’s Romania documents how the state insinuated oppression into every corner of life.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
"People didn't leave their homes for no reason - they lived through the worst torture, oppression, and injustice."
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
Sermons matter, but the most meaningful form of obligation and testimony is about showing up, with enough presence and force to constrain the oppression of power.
From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026
He has the confidence to only dress up his new dystopia a tad, letting the scale of the oppression creep up on you when, say, an açaí bowl salesman casually asks Tereza for her papers.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
He hated white oppression and white domination, not white people themselves.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
