repressive
Americanadjective
adjective
-
acting to control, suppress, or restrain
-
subjecting people, a society, etc, to a state of subjugation
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of repressive
1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin repressīvus < Latin repress ( us ) ( see repress) + -īvus -ive
Explanation
Repressive things keep people from doing or saying what they want. Repressive controls on the press don't allow journalists to freely report the news. It's almost always a government, or a political or social system, that acts in a repressive way. When police officers don't let citizens videotape arrests, or a society doesn't allow girls to attend school, it's repressive. Someone growing up in a repressive family might feel cautious about saying or doing the wrong things. The adjective repressive comes from the Latin root repressus, "held back or curbed," and also "checked or restrained."
Vocabulary lists containing repressive
Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam
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Persepolis
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I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
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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.
In her comments Thursday, Machado said the U.S.’s three-phase recovery plan for Venezuela was progressing, but complained that Rodríguez had yet to fully dismantle a repressive state apparatus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
Governments have stepped up an array of measures to counter the informal sector, ranging from the more repressive, such as demolition and seizure of merchandise, to supporting workers through training or moving services online.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
After the second World War, Enver Hoxha ushered in a severely isolated and repressive Communist regime.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Chilling effects are thus not only repressive – causing self-censorship – but productive.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
But Diem’s government had become increasingly corrupt and repressive.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
