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:
They also tend to repress their emotions, which he said has "many negative effects, not only on the mind but also on the body."
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 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
“It’s just so emotional, and you try to repress it and try to move ahead and be thankful for what you do have,” Arline said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 15, 2025
“Luna, my love, if you should feel any burgeoning talent today—perhaps an unexpected urge to sing opera or to declaim in Mermish—do not repress it! You may have been gifted by the Gernumblies!”
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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
It is a totalizing system that represses human agency and offers no escape: We are “like butterflies, pinned live and wriggling onto history’s collage.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2023
This represses gaseous fermentations, and the use of more salt than usual in making the cheese will very often restrain the production of gas.
From Outlines of Dairy Bacteriology, 8th edition A Concise Manual for the Use of Students in Dairying by H. L. (Harry Luman) Russell
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
Niki’s musical genius is frequently alluded to, dreams deferred by his hearing disorder, and Woodall physically communicates that repressed frustration.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
But when Jamie Bell was cast as Niall, the gentler, more repressed character of the duo, he persuaded Gadd to take the role.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
Coop’s larcenous ways awaken something in him that the straight-laced corporate life had repressed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 2026
But surrounding it was the stillness of nearmidnight in a country town, so that the hurrying feet and the repressed voices had a hollow reverberance.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
“We’re not making records that are just going to go sit on the shelf — these are records we’re continually repressing all the time anyway.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
"By removing them and repressing their return, we're threatening our own future survival," he said.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
This strategy involves the central bank artificially repressing bond yields in the market.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 19, 2025
Burkina Faso's military government, which emerged from a September 2022 coup led by Captain Ibrahim Traore, has regularly been accused of repressing figures the junta considers hostile.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2025
Around the time of the riddle lottery, Aureliano Segundo began waking up with a knot in his throat, as if he were repressing a desire to weep.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
