Synonyms

suppress

American

[suh-pres] / səˈprɛs /

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.

suppress British

/ səˈprɛs /

verb

to put an end to; prohibit
to hold in check; restrain

I was obliged to suppress a smile
to withhold from circulation or publication

to suppress seditious pamphlets
to stop the activities of; crush

to suppress a rebellion
electronics
1. to reduce or eliminate (unwanted oscillations) in a circuit
2. to eliminate (a particular frequency or group of frequencies) in a signal
psychiatry
1. to resist consciously (an idea or a desire entering one's mind)
2. to exercise self-control by preventing the expression of (certain desires) Compare repress

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

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 press ¹)

Explanation

To suppress something means to curb, inhibit, or even stop it. If the sound of your boss moving in his chair sounds like gas, you’re going to have to learn how to suppress your giggles. In the strictest sense, suppress means to put an end to something by force, like a government that suppresses the right to free speech by shutting down the newspapers or the military suppressing an uprising by rebel forces. But we also use suppress in less serious terms to describe an attempt to muffle or stifle something, such as suppressing a sneeze in a quiet theater or suppressing your true emotions to not cause a teary scene.

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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:

suppress suppresses suppressed suppressing

During periods of external conflict, governments often find it easier to suppress internal opposition, justify tighter security measures and rally support around national defence.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

According to Kpler data, Beijing can comfortably suppress its crude imports for another six months, based on the rate it is drawing on its enormous stockpile of oil.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

Higher rates can suppress demand; but they cannot fix the underlying supply shortage.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Photos displayed by Silverman in court Wednesday morning showed investigators recovered 11 air fresheners from inside the car, indicating someone was trying to suppress the strong odor coming from Hernandez’s badly decomposed remains.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

One measure of his exhaustion was the fact that the contorted syntax he usually worked so hard to suppress had now resurfaced.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

"I am fed up of going on stuff that masks and suppresses the symptoms rather than treating the actual problem," he said.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

Heat domes are large areas of high pressure, where sinking air suppresses development of precipitation and clouds, allowing heat to build up over days and weeks.

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

While it can cause unpleasant side effects like skin rashes, chemotherapy isn’t a walk in the park and suppresses the immune system, making patients susceptible to secondary infections.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026

Laboratory experiments showed that albumin specifically suppresses the growth of Mucorales fungi without interfering with other microbes.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 3, 2026

The cowboy next to him suppresses a smile.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Pyziur also noted that oil prices have been suppressed in part because China slashed its own imports of oil.

From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026

When used together, the compounds strongly suppressed Roseburia intestinalis and Parabacteroides merdae.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 17, 2026

The Writers Guild of America alleged in its complaint that the proposed merger is anticompetitive and would lead to fewer jobs and suppressed wages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

The Schwab strategists began pondering this three years ago as what they called the “great moderation” era — two decades of disinflation, suppressed volatility and reduced supply shocks — was over.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

It is suppressed and high-pitched and contains an element of disbelief.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan

"The world to a lot of us is very loud, very noisy, very crowded, very bright, very smelly, and it's exhausting suppressing your response to all of this and carrying on."

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

That’s led to fears that the tax, in some ways, is making the affordability crisis worse by suppressing new supply.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026

"Depending on the type of fat that you consume, it can go completely different ways. We found that some fats promote cancer, as we would expect, while other fats are really good at suppressing cancer."

From Science Daily ● Jun. 2, 2026

Maintaining the existing communication risks suppressing interest rates when inflation starts to rise and more volatile outcomes for financial markets if more aggressive corrective signaling is needed.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 27, 2026

“Hey,” she said calmly, suppressing a giggle but not the sarcasm in her voice, “what’s the matter with my rough tough little cream puff this afternoon?”

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023