suppress
Americanverb (used with object)
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suppresses,
present (3rd person singular)
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suppressed,
past participle, past
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suppressing
present participle
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to put an end to the activities of (a person, body of persons, etc.).
to suppress the Communist and certain left-leaning parties.
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to do away with by or as by authority; abolish; stop (a practice, custom, etc.).
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to keep in or repress (a feeling, smile, groan, etc.).
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to withhold from disclosure or publication (truth, evidence, a book, names, etc.).
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to stop or arrest (a flow, hemorrhage, cough, etc.).
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to vanquish or subdue (a revolt, rebellion, etc.); quell; crush.
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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.
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Electricity. to reduce or eliminate (an irregular or undesired oscillation or frequency) in a circuit.
verb
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to put an end to; prohibit
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to hold in check; restrain
I was obliged to suppress a smile
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to withhold from circulation or publication
to suppress seditious pamphlets
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to stop the activities of; crush
to suppress a rebellion
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electronics
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to reduce or eliminate (unwanted oscillations) in a circuit
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to eliminate (a particular frequency or group of frequencies) in a signal
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psychiatry
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to resist consciously (an idea or a desire entering one's mind)
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to exercise self-control by preventing the expression of (certain desires) Compare repress
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonsuppressivenessnoun
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suppressernoun
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suppressornoun
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presuppressverb (used with object)
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resuppressverb (used with object)
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nonsuppressiveadjective
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self-suppressingadjective
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self-suppressiveadjective
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suppressibleadjective
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suppressiveadjective
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unsuppressibleadjective
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unsuppressiveadjective
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nonsuppressivelyadverb
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suppressivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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suppresssimple
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suppressessimple
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have suppressedperfect
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has suppressedperfect
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am suppressingprogressive
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are suppressingprogressive
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is suppressingprogressive
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have been suppressingperfect progressive
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has been suppressingperfect progressive
Past
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suppressedsimple
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had suppressedperfect
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was suppressingprogressive
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were suppressingprogressive
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had been suppressingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing suppress
The Giver
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Animal Farm
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The Maze Runner
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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:
When an acetyl tag is added to BCL6, the protein loses its ability to suppress the cell-death genes downstream from it.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
The silver lining for home buyers is that higher mortgage rates suppress demand, especially by investors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
As the Supreme Court has held, the government may not “use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression.”
From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026
“We suppress a lot to be respectful to other people, and there’s nothing bad in that,” Lo said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
My throat tightens and I swallow hard to suppress a gag.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Christa Pike, 50, on Wednesday survived two lethal injections of pentobarbital, a drug that suppresses nervous system activity.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
Warming suppresses upwelling — which normally allows colder, deeper and nutrient-rich ocean water to rise closer to the surface.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
An aging population and chronic economic anemia raise questions about whether Tokyo ever will repay the debt, a worry that all else being equal suppresses demand for Japanese assets and thus the yen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The results indicate that FA suppresses this process by inhibiting voltage-dependent calcium channels, reducing the calcium signals needed for the muscles to tighten.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
To my surprise, my brother suppresses his Erudite curiosity.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
After discovering his suppressed memories, Cramer began teaching meditation classes for others seeking to unlock the mysteries of the mind.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
"At the smallest spatial scales explored in the experiment, the production rate of J/ψ particles is significantly suppressed, with a statistical significance of about three standard deviations."
From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026
Former employees alleged that 21 Air previously ignored protocol and suppressed safety reports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026
Officials said they also found that State Farm had illegally suppressed smoke damage claims.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
They greet us—especially Marcus—with held-in tears and suppressed smiles.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Lai’s office condemned acts carried out “with the aim of suppressing, threatening, or even harming advocates of freedom and democracy and their families,” Kuo said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
That finding suggests that suppressing T cell activity could potentially slow or reduce the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease, even when tau tangles remain present.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
For the X-59 it's about suppressing sonic booms on a budget and nothing else.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
When he began practicing urology in the 1980s, the common misunderstanding was that testosterone injections caused prostate cancer, further suppressing research and treatment of testosterone deficiency.
From Slate ● Sep. 13, 2026
She saw Rishi suppressing a smile and said, “Sorry. Too many questions.”
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
Definitions 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.
