oppressor
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of oppressor
First recorded in 1375–1425; oppress ( def. ) + -or 2 ( def. )
Explanation
An oppressor is any authority (a group or a person) that uses its power unjustly to keep people under control. Many rebellious teenagers view their parents as oppressors, but the word is usually used to refer to dictators. While you might complain about your oppressor, the teacher who makes you stay late to catch up on assignments you missed, a true oppressor denies basic human rights to people who live under their control. Before Partition in 1947, the citizens of India mostly viewed their British rulers as oppressors — in some cases, Indian farmers were forced by the British to grow non-food crops, causing thousands to starve. The Latin root is opprimere, "to crush or subdue."
Vocabulary lists containing oppressor
Every Falling Star
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A Night Divided
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Vocabulary from Readings 2, Unit 3
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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.
See Examples For:
In a pan-Indian context, English is an equalizer, not an oppressor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
To keep them, he said, meant treating the victim the same as the oppressor.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2024
The oppressor cannot look to the oppressed and go, "How do we fix this?"
From Salon ● Feb. 22, 2024
“Somehow this narrative got mixed up that Jews are an oppressor rather than an oppressee, and I don’t know how that narrative came about,” Mark said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
I would have felt a little giddy if Miss Marva Hendrix hadn’t soured the day by making me out to be my sisters’ oppressor.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
The Polish nobility, for instance, is portrayed as not so noble, which blurs the line between invaders and oppressors; any subtleties to be discerned between the languages spoken were probably swallowed up in the subtitles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
It’s an artistic choice that also blurs boundaries between oppressed and oppressors, revealing the complicity of the American Dream.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
The set proves that having standards and integrity, even in the face of your oppressors and the ugliness they broadcast, will create something beautiful enough to combat even the most despicable reality.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025
Everett explains that "any enslaved, imprisoned or oppressed people find a way to speak to each other in the presence of their oppressors that will not allow entry."
From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2024
Yes, it was a prison designed by our oppressors, but it also gave us a sense of self-determination and control.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
