repressed

[ri-prest]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR repressed ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

subjected to, affected by, or characteristic of psychological repression: repressed emotional conflicts.

Origin of repressed

First recorded in 1900–05; repress + -ed²

Related formsnon·re·pressed, adjectiveun·re·pressed, adjective

re-press

[ree-pres]

verb (used with or without object)

to press again or anew.

Origin of re-press

First recorded in 1870–75; re- + press¹

repress

[ri-pres]

verb (used with object)

to keep under control, check, or suppress (desires, feelings, actions, tears, etc.).

to keep down or suppress (anything objectionable).

to put down or quell (sedition, disorder, etc.).

to reduce (persons) to subjection.

Psychoanalysis. to reject (painful or disagreeable ideas, memories, feelings, or impulses) from the conscious mind.

verb (used without object)

to initiate or undergo repression.

Origin of repress

1325–75; Middle English repressen < Latin repressus (past participle of reprimere), equivalent to re- re- + pressus, past participle of primere to press¹

Related formsre·press·i·ble, adjectivenon·re·press·i·ble, adjectivenon·re·press·i·ble·ness, nounnon·re·press·i·bly, adverbo·ver·re·press, verb (used with object)un·re·press·i·ble, adjective

Can be confusedoppress repress

Synonyms for repress

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR repress ON THESAURUS.COM

1. bridle, control. 3. subdue, quash. 4. crush.

Synonym study

1. See check¹.

Antonyms for repress

1–4. foster.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for repressed

inhibit, subdue, suppress, crush, quell, quash, restrain, muffle, squelch, subjugate, stifle, control, hinder, kill, compose, chasten, lock, smother, shush, cork

Examples from the Web for repressed

Contemporary Examples of repressed

Not to mention the core Christian idea that sexuality is, itself, a necessary evil, and something that must be repressed.
Church Sex Scandals Are Rooted in Theology
Jay Michaelson
December 15, 2014
This inner world, as Freud and others had previously suggested, was a fiction of repressed fantasies, dreams, and visions.
Joseph O'Neill's 'The Dog' Has a Dystopian Dubai as Modernity's Stand-In
J.P. O’Malley
September 8, 2014
The characters in Downton and in that time period are often quite reserved and their emotions are repressed.
How Downton Abbey's Joanne Froggatt Navigated Anna's Controversial Rape Arc
Kevin Fallon
August 14, 2014
Repressed anger is one of the key dimensions to this struggle.
Model Minority Rage: Why the Hulk Should Be an Asian Guy
Arthur Chu
July 18, 2014
This struggle is for those who have been repressed, this struggle is for those who are imprisoned.
Exclusive: Read the Speech Venezuelan Opposition Leader Leopoldo López Made Before He Was Jailed
Leopoldo Lopez
February 19, 2014

Historical Examples of repressed

Grant repressed an impulse to shout, and used the breath for an extra burst of speed.
Good Indian
B. M. Bower
She was exactly the same as when they had parted, just as handsome, just as scornful, just as repressed.
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
His breathing was a little quickened; but he repressed all other signs of agitation.
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
But Rawson knew that that slim body was tense with repressed emotion.
Two Thousand Miles Below
Charles Willard Diffin
Imagine “swell up” from Sandford, the repressed and decorous!
A Breath of Prairie and other stories
Will Lillibridge

British Dictionary definitions for repressed

repressed

adjective

(of a person) repressing feelings, instincts, desires, etc

repress

verb (tr)

to keep (feelings, etc) under control; suppress or restrainto repress a desire

to put into a state of subjugationto repress a people

psychoanal to banish (thoughts and impulses that conflict with conventional standards of conduct) from one's conscious mind

Derived Formsrepresser, nounrepressible, adjective

Word Origin for repress

C14: from Latin reprimere to press back, from re- + premere to press 1

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 repressed

adj.

1660s, past participle adjective from repress (v.). Psychological sense by 1904.

repress

late 14c., "to check, restrain," from Latin repressus, past participle of reprimere "hold back, curb," figuratively "check, confine, restrain, refrain," from re- "back" (see re-) + premere "to push" (see press (v.1)).

Used of feelings or desires from late 14c.; in the purely psychological sense, it represents German verdrängen (Freud, 1893), first attested 1904 (implied in repressed). Meaning "to put down" (a rebellion, etc.) is from late 15c. Related: Repressed; repressing.

repressed in Medicine

repressed

[rĭ-prĕst′]

adj.

Being subjected to or characterized by repression.

repress

[rĭ-prĕs′]

v.

To hold back by an act of volition.

To exclude something from the conscious mind.