repress
Americanverb (used with object)
-
represses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
repressed,
past participle, past
-
repressing
present participle
-
to keep under control, check, or suppress (desires, feelings, actions, tears, etc.).
- Antonyms:
- foster
-
to keep down or suppress (anything objectionable).
- Antonyms:
- foster
-
to put down or quell (sedition, disorder, etc.).
- Antonyms:
- foster
-
to reduce (persons) to subjection.
- Synonyms:
- crush
- Antonyms:
- foster
-
Psychology, Psychoanalysis. to reject (painful or disagreeable ideas, memories, feelings, or impulses) from the conscious mind.
verb (used without object)
-
represses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
repressed,
past participle, past
-
repressing
present participle
verb
-
to keep (feelings, etc) under control; suppress or restrain
to repress a desire
-
to put into a state of subjugation
to repress a people
-
psychoanal to banish (thoughts and impulses that conflict with conventional standards of conduct) from one's conscious mind
Synonym Usage
See check 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
nonrepressiblenessnoun
-
repressernoun
-
overrepressverb (used with object)
-
nonrepressibleadjective
-
repressibleadjective
-
unrepressibleadjective
-
nonrepressiblyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
represssimple
-
repressessimple
-
have repressedperfect
-
has repressedperfect
-
am repressingprogressive
-
are repressingprogressive
-
is repressingprogressive
-
have been repressingperfect progressive
-
has been repressingperfect progressive
Past
-
repressedsimple
-
had repressedperfect
-
was repressingprogressive
-
were repressingprogressive
-
had been repressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of repress
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English repressen, from Latin repressus (past participle of reprimere ), equivalent to re- re- + pressus, past participle of premere “to exert steady force against, apply pressure to, press”; see press 1
Explanation
Whether you're repressing a feeling, an idea or even a revolution, you're almost always going to be taking advantage of the press in repress. To repress something is to "press it down" where it can't be seen, heard or even recognized. Psychologists often try to help people recover memories that they've repressed so that they can feel free of them once and for all. What makes repress different from press is that repress is almost always used when you're talking about an idea, concept or something intangible. In other words, you repress, say, your emotions. You don't repress olives to get olive oil. However, you can repress someone or some group by intimidating them — like repressing the protesters by sending out cops on horseback.
Vocabulary lists containing repress
The Emancipation Proclamation (1862)
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A Christmas Carol
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100 SAT words Beginning with "R"
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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:
He backed a law paving the way for a state of emergency which would authorize military deployment to repress the movement and clear the blockades.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
The character tends to repress her feelings, and her initial reaction to John’s death is stoic and reserved.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
Mr. Klosterman views football as a martial game in which organization, rules and technology repress individuality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 6, 2026
It said it will be sanctioning multiple entities, individuals and vessels to “stem the flow of revenue that the regime in Tehran uses to support terrorism abroad and repress its citizens.”
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 6, 2026
As we will shortly see, we Sapiens have good reasons to repress the memory of our siblings.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Certain details of the scene are so grim she represses them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
Dubbed GENtoniK, the chemical cocktail both represses epigenetic factors that inhibit cell maturation and stimulates factors that promote it.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2024
The landlocked country borders China, which human rights groups say represses religious freedom.
From Reuters ● Sep. 3, 2023
Film critic Robin Wood famously argued that "the true subject of the horror genre is the struggle for recognition of all that our civilization represses and oppresses."
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2023
Pusillanimity is not to be confused, therefore, with humility; for humility excludes the unreasonable or immoderate desire of excellence, whereas pusillanimity represses even that desire of greatness which is reasonable and moderate.
From Moral Theology A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities by Charles Jerome Callan
“They have to repress themselves. So they want others to be repressed as well. ‘How dare you live outside of this box and have freedom of choice and a comfortable, fun, beautiful life?”
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
In the 1980s, Iraq's late ruler Saddam Hussein, who repressed the Shia population, went to war with the Islamic republic.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Culture writer Sarah Carson called the morning travel drink the moment many repressed Brits “are finally free to escape.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
“It was more that something must have just drifted into my head thinking, ‘You take two men repressed in their current life, repressed in the modern world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026
My lips trembled but I repressed my tears.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
People fed up with rolling blackouts have staged sporadic protests in recent days, banging pots and shouting slogans against the government, rare demonstrations in a country known for repressing dissent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2026
And in January, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin recommended they "consider handling cases from the perspective of repressing human trafficking".
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
This strategy involves the central bank artificially repressing bond yields in the market.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 19, 2025
They also exaggerate the fear that is already there, especially in characters repressing their inner demons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2025
“Very easily said!” remarked Camilla, amiably repressing a sob, while a hitch came into her upper lip, and her tears overflowed.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
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.
