oppress

[ uh-pres ]

verb (used with object)

1. to burden with cruel or unjust impositions or restraints; subject to a burdensome or harsh exercise of authority or power:

   a people oppressed by totalitarianism.

   Synonyms: persecute, maltreat

2. to lie heavily upon (the mind, a person, etc.):

   Care and sorrow oppressed them.

   Antonyms: encourage, uphold

3. to weigh down, as sleep or weariness does.
4. Archaic. to put down; subdue or suppress.
5. Archaic. to press upon or against; crush.

oppress

/ əˈprɛs /

verb

1. to subjugate by cruelty, force, etc
2. to afflict or torment
3. to lie heavy on (the mind, imagination, etc)
4. an obsolete word for overwhelm

Derived Forms

• opˈpressor, noun
• opˈpressingly, adverb

Other Words From

• op·press·i·ble adjective
• op·pres·sor noun
• pre·op·press verb (used with object)
• re·op·press verb (used with object)
• un·op·press·i·ble adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of oppress¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English oppressen, from Middle French oppresser, from Medieval Latin oppressāre, derivative of Latin oppressus, past participle of opprimere “to squeeze, suffocate,” equivalent to op- “to, toward, against” + -primere (combining form of premere ) “to press”; op-, press ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of oppress¹

C14: via Old French from Medieval Latin oppressāre, from Latin opprimere, from ob- against + premere to press

Synonym Study

Oppress, depress, both having the literal meaning to press down upon, to cause to sink, are today mainly limited to figurative applications. To oppress is usually to subject (a people) to burdens, to undue exercise of authority, and the like; its chief application, therefore, is to a social or political situation: a tyrant oppressing his subjects. Depress suggests mainly the psychological effect, upon the individual, of unpleasant conditions, situations, etc., that sadden and discourage: depressed by the news. When oppress is sometimes used in this sense, it suggests a psychological attitude of more complete hopelessness: oppressed by a sense of failure.

Example Sentences

The word science is a word which puts many people off associated with power and the power to oppress ordinary people.

From Salon

“There has never been a more critical time at which to begin the intellectual struggle with those who would demean human nature by using prisons exclusively as agencies of social control that punish without attempting to rehabilitate, that isolate and oppress instead of educating and elevating, and that tear down minority communities rather than protecting and strengthening them.”

From Los Angeles Times

The right’s effective instrumentalization of religion as a tool to dominate and oppress has embedded an unease among liberal political activists about the intermingling of both.

From Slate

But that doesn’t mean she’s motivated by a desire to oppress.

From Slate

Because under such a regime, they will be made the official state religion and possess the power to marginalize and oppress any other groups who do not subscribe to their doctrines.

From Salon

Related Words

• afflict
• annoy
• beat down
• harass
• maltreat
• overwhelm
• persecute
• pick on
• prey on
• subjugate
• suppress
• torment
• torture
• trample
• vex