suppress

[ suh-pres ]

/ səˈprɛs /

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See synonyms for: suppress / suppressed / suppresses / suppressing on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to put an end to the activities of (a person, body of persons, etc.): to suppress the Communist and certain left-leaning parties.

to do away with by or as by authority; abolish; stop (a practice, custom, etc.).

to keep in or repress (a feeling, smile, groan, etc.).

to withhold from disclosure or publication (truth, evidence, a book, names, etc.).

to stop or arrest (a flow, hemorrhage, cough, etc.).

to vanquish or subdue (a revolt, rebellion, etc.); quell; crush.

Genetics. to keep (a gene) from being expressed: Let's say that future genetic engineers discover a gene for suicidal depression, and learn how to suppress the gene or adjust it.

Electricity. to reduce or eliminate (an irregular or undesired oscillation or frequency) in a circuit.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of suppress

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English suppressen, from Latin suppressus (past participle of supprimere “to press down”), equivalent to sup- sup- + pressus (see press¹)

OTHER WORDS FROM suppress

sup·press·i·ble, adjectivesup·pres·sive, adjectivesup·pres·sive·ly, adverbsup·pres·sor, sup·press·er, noun

non·sup·pres·sive, adjectivenon·sup·pres·sive·ly, adverbnon·sup·pres·sive·ness, nounpre·sup·press, verb (used with object)re·sup·press, verb (used with object)self-sup·press·ing, adjectiveself-sup·pres·sive, adjectiveun·sup·press·i·ble, adjectiveun·sup·pres·sive, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use suppress in a sentence

Non-central words, even if mentioned frequently in the text, are suppressed.
Could Google passage indexing be leveraging BERT?|Dawn Anderson|October 29, 2020|Search Engine Land
The standard feminist reading of Bertha is that she is Jane’s shadow self, making her a metaphor for the violence and unruliness that Jane suppresses out of her life.
Gothic novels are obsessed with borders. Mexican Gothic takes full advantage.|Constance Grady|October 16, 2020|Vox
In 28, governments blocked websites or forced outlets, users, or platforms to censor information in order to suppress critical reporting, unfavorable health statistics, or other content related to the coronavirus.
Governments are using the pandemic as an excuse to restrict internet freedom|Charlotte Jee|October 14, 2020|MIT Technology Review
One group of 40 scientists wrote a letter to the chief medical officers of the UK suggesting that they should aim to “suppress the virus across the entire population”.
Coronavirus: Is The Cure Worse Than The Disease? The Most Divisive Question Of 2020|LGBTQ-Editor|October 12, 2020|No Straight News

The GOP balked after Google curtailed ad targeting, calling the restrictions “a blatant attempt to suppress voter information.”
‘Wouldn’t make economic sense’: Despite hyped targeting restrictions on 2020 political ads, few new limits are in place|jim cooper|October 12, 2020|Digiday
El Niño, which typically suppresses hurricanes, is not expected to develop this year.
Hurricane Season Is Starting, and Projections Are Higher Than Average|Eliza Shapiro|May 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
His budding summer affair with Ecuador, where President Correa openly suppresses privately owned media, has provoked fresh sneers.
I Love the Julian Assange Show!|Tracy Quan|July 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Park City is having an unusually bad season for snow, which of course suppresses business.
The Real Estate Crisis Hits the Ski Slopes|David Frum|March 27, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The prince ingratiates himself with her: she suppresses the periodical droughts and marries him.
The Science of Fairy Tales|Edwin Sidney Hartland
But what can be thought of a historian who suppresses Jeanne's trial because he finds it inconvenient?
The Life of Joan of Arc, Vol. 1 and 2 (of 2)|Anatole France
Hence it embraces the whole series of times, or what comes to the same thing, it suppresses time and change.
The Aesthetical Essays|Friedrich Schiller
Hence, as it suppresses all that is contingent, it will also suppress all coercion, and will set man free physically and morally.
The Aesthetical Essays|Friedrich Schiller
The more a man suppresses his own personal pride, the higher he stands in the moral sense.
mile Verhaeren|Stefan Zweig

British Dictionary definitions for suppress

suppress

/ (səˈprɛs) /

verb (tr)

to put an end to; prohibit

to hold in check; restrainI was obliged to suppress a smile

to withhold from circulation or publicationto suppress seditious pamphlets

to stop the activities of; crushto suppress a rebellion

electronics

to reduce or eliminate (unwanted oscillations) in a circuit
to eliminate (a particular frequency or group of frequencies) in a signal

psychiatry

to resist consciously (an idea or a desire entering one's mind)
to exercise self-control by preventing the expression of (certain desires)Compare repress (def. 3)

Derived forms of suppress

suppresser, nounsuppressible, adjective

Word Origin for suppress

C14: from Latin suppressus held down, from supprimere to restrain, from sub- down + premere to press

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

suppress

Origin of suppress

OTHER WORDS FROM suppress

Words related to suppress

How to use suppress in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for suppress

Derived forms of suppress

Word Origin for suppress