noun
Meaning 1
Oppression.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
oppress
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/əˈpɹɛs/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɛs
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CMU ARPABET: AH0 P R EH1 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
verb
Meaning 2
To keep down by unjust force.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- The rural poor were oppressed by the land-owners.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: suppress
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 3
To make sad or gloomy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- We were oppressed by the constant grey skies.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: begloom, get down, aggrieve, attrist, begrieve, besorrow, grieve, pain, bring down, come down on, contristate, darken, dash, deject, depress, desolate, dispirit, engrieve, forset, grieven, moan, oppress, repent, rue, sadden, sadden up, tristitiate, ungladden, unhappy, upset
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 4
Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: depress, downbear, squash
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 5
To sexually violate; to rape.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: outrage, violate, vitiate, abuse, constuprate, defile, defoul, dishonour, force, misuse, oppress, pollute, rape, ravage, ravish, r-word, scotch, turn out, viole, grape
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- The government oppresses political activists
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: suppress, crush
Antonyms: none provided
Narrower terms: repress, quash, keep down, subdue, subjugate, reduce
verb
Meaning 7
cause to suffer
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- Jews were persecuted in the former Soviet Union
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: persecute
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: torment, rag, bedevil, crucify, dun, frustrate
Narrower terms: purge
History
Etymology
From Middle English oppressen, from Old French oppresser, from Medieval Latin oppressare (“to press against, oppress”), frequentative of Latin opprimere, past participle oppressus (“to press against, press together, oppress”), from ob (“against”) + premere, past participle pressus (“to press”); see press.
Across languages
Translations
86 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Albanian: shtyp — keep down by unjust force
- Arabic: اِسْتَضْعَفَ (istaḍʕafa) — keep down by unjust force
- Arabic: قَهَرَ (qahara) — keep down by unjust force
- Arabic: اِضْطَهَدَ (iḍṭahada) — keep down by unjust force
- Azerbaijani: əzmək — keep down by unjust force
- Azerbaijani: sıxışdırmaq — keep down by unjust force
- Azerbaijani: təzyiq etmək — keep down by unjust force
- Azerbaijani: zülm etmək — keep down by unjust force
- Basque: zapaldu — keep down by unjust force
- Bulgarian: потискам (potiskam) — keep down by unjust force
- Catalan: oprimir — keep down by unjust force
- Chinese Mandarin: 壓迫 /压迫 (yāpò) — keep down by unjust force
- Ngazidja Comorian: ukandamiza — keep down by unjust force
- Ngazidja Comorian: udhulumu — keep down by unjust force
- Czech: utiskovat — keep down by unjust force
- Danish: undertrykke — keep down by unjust force
- Dutch: onderdrukken — keep down by unjust force
- Esperanto: subpremi — keep down by unjust force
- Esperanto: kontraŭpremi — keep down by unjust force
- Finnish: sortaa — keep down by unjust force
- Finnish: alistaa — keep down by unjust force
- French: opprimer — keep down by unjust force
- Galician: oprimir — keep down by unjust force
- Georgian: ჩაგვრა (čagvra) — keep down by unjust force
- Georgian: შევიწროება (ševic̣roeba) — keep down by unjust force
- German: unterdrücken — keep down by unjust force
- Gothic: 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kaurjan) — keep down by unjust force
- Greek: βαρύνω (varýno) — keep down by unjust force
- Ancient Greek: βαρύνω (barúnō) — keep down by unjust force
- Hindi: दमन (daman) — keep down by unjust force
- Hungarian: elnyom — keep down by unjust force
- Hungarian: nyomorgat — keep down by unjust force
- Hungarian: sanyargat — keep down by unjust force
- Icelandic: kúga — keep down by unjust force
- Irish: cuir faoi chois — keep down by unjust force
- Old Irish: for·ding — keep down by unjust force
- Italian: opprimere — keep down by unjust force
- Japanese: 圧迫する (appaku suru) — keep down by unjust force
- Kazakh: езгіге салу (ezgıge salu) — keep down by unjust force
- Kazakh: басып-жаншу (basyp-janşu) — keep down by unjust force
- Kazakh: тізе батыру (tıze batyru) — keep down by unjust force
- Khmer: សង្កត់សង្កិន (sɑɑngkɑtsɑɑngkən) — keep down by unjust force
- Korean: 압박하다 (apbakhada) — keep down by unjust force
- Latin: opprimō — keep down by unjust force
- Māori: nonope — keep down by unjust force
- Māori: aupēhi — keep down by unjust force
- Māori: kaupēhipēhi — keep down by unjust force
- Māori: tāmi — keep down by unjust force
- Māori: tātāmi — keep down by unjust force
- Māori: pēhi — keep down by unjust force
- Māori: whakawhiu — keep down by unjust force
- Māori: where — keep down by unjust force
- Māori: whakapēhi — keep down by unjust force
- Marathi: दडपून ठेवणे (daḍpūn ṭhevṇe) — keep down by unjust force
- Marathi: दडपणे (daḍapṇe) — keep down by unjust force
- Marathi: दडपशाही करणे (daḍapśāhī karṇe) — keep down by unjust force
- Norwegian Nynorsk: kua — keep down by unjust force
- Norwegian Nynorsk: underkua — keep down by unjust force
- Portuguese: oprimir — keep down by unjust force
- Romanian: asupri — keep down by unjust force
- Romanian: oprima — keep down by unjust force
- Russian: притесня́ть (pritesnjátʹ) — keep down by unjust force
- Russian: притесни́ть (pritesnítʹ) — keep down by unjust force
- Spanish: oprimir — keep down by unjust force
- Spanish: conculcar — keep down by unjust force
- Spanish: opresar — keep down by unjust force
- Swedish: nedtrycka — keep down by unjust force
- Tagalog: mang-api — keep down by unjust force
- Tagalog: apihin — keep down by unjust force
- Thai: กดขี่ (gòt-kìi) — keep down by unjust force
- Thai: ข่มขี่ — keep down by unjust force
- Tibetan: གཉའ་གནོན་བཏང (gnya' gnon btang) — keep down by unjust force
- Ugaritic: 𐎄𐎍𐎍 (dll) — keep down by unjust force
- Ukrainian: пригно́блювати (pryhnóbljuvaty) — keep down by unjust force
- Ukrainian: гноби́ти (hnobýty) — keep down by unjust force
- Ukrainian: гніти́ти (hnitýty) — keep down by unjust force
- Vietnamese: áp chế — keep down by unjust force
- Welsh: gorthrymu — keep down by unjust force
- Welsh: gormesu — keep down by unjust force
- Bulgarian: угнетявам (ugnetjavam) — to make sad or gloomy
- Finnish: ahdistaa — to make sad or gloomy
- Finnish: masentaa — to make sad or gloomy
- French: oppresser — to make sad or gloomy
- Hungarian: lehangol — to make sad or gloomy
- Hungarian: lesújt — to make sad or gloomy
- Hungarian: lever — to make sad or gloomy