repression

American  

[ri-presh-uhn] / rɪˈprɛʃ ən /

noun

1. the act of repressing; state of being repressed.

2. Psychology, Psychoanalysis. the rejection from consciousness of painful or disagreeable ideas, memories, feelings, or impulses.

   Freud's approach to interpreting early memories emphasizes what is forgotten through the mechanism of repression.

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Other Word Forms

• nonrepression noun

Etymology

Origin of repression

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English repressioun, from Medieval Latin repressiōn- (stem of repressiō ), Late Latin: “suppression”; repress, -ion

Example Sentences

Dozens more were injured in what the state-run News Agency of Nigeria described as one of the most notorious acts of repression under British rule in Nigeria.

From BBC

The teachers’ group said that the killings and the continuing repression, together with the country’s worsening economic problems, are bound to fuel more popular unrest.

From The Wall Street Journal

Critics have long flagged concern about media repression in China, where authorities have arrested and prosecuted journalists, accusing them of causing trouble.

From BBC

Rostropovich exuded, in the Kennedy Center aura, the expression of an overwhelmingly triumphant celebration of the end of the Soviet repression.

From Los Angeles Times

He needs an outcome he can present as a victory, without tipping Iran into either a renewed cycle of repression or a descent into chaos.

From BBC

Related Words

• oppression
• suppression