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Glite Dictionary
to oppress

to oppress

152 6.5
To treat people cruelly or unfairly using power to limit their rights
  • verb
  • /əˈprɛs/
translation icon : oprimir
  • We will not oppress them, or incite or abuse our power.
  • oppress people
  • oppressors and the oppressed
  • oppress or marginalize

For their own degradation by degrading and oppressing others, Rousseau says.

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Examples

  • A country like Saddam Hussein, where he oppresses its own people, and which is terrible.

  • Are you feeling at all degraded or oppressed?

    Shrek 2 (2004)

  • Our moral guidelines cannot allow us to oppress others simply because they are different.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Because the longer that we oppress them, the work suffers.

  • It's one group oppressing another group and taking their stuff.

    Chris Williamson

  • When we tell people we're being oppressed, that helps to stop it.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The patriarchy is a system that oppresses not just women, but everyone.

  • Many Muslims of India see themselves as an oppressed minority in a Hindu land.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Instead, he posited that oppressive and oppressed cultures are in conflict with each other.

    Academic text (1991)

  • The government should not oppress its citizens by restricting their freedom of speech.

Synonyms

to crush
vsto oppress
386 4.7

To defeat completely, often by force, ending a group or idea

is about using authority to limit freedoms rather than only destroying
to abuse
vsto oppress
  • NSFW
344 3.7

To treat a person or animal cruelly to harm them

focuses on systemic power to restrict rights, not only personal harm
to persecute
vsto oppress
98 7.0

To treat someone badly for a long time because of their race, religion or political beliefs

is more general, not limited to long or identity based targeting
to victimize
vsto oppress
  • US
70 6.0

Treat someone cruelly or unfairly so they suffer

emphasizes using power to limit rights rather than only causing harm
to subject
vsto oppress
62 7.7

To bring a person or group under the control of another

focuses on control by power rather than necessarily cruel treatment
to tyrannize
vsto oppress
  • US
2 8.4

To treat people in a cruel and unfair way

is the general act of using power to limit people's freedom
to grind down
vsto oppress
8.5

Make people suffer and control them by force

is broader, any cruel use of power to restrict rights or freedom

Antonyms

to empower
157 4.2

Give someone the power and confidence to do something

to liberate
104 4.3

Set someone free from prison or unfair control

How Cruel

to enslave
  • NSFW
101 5.7
to tyrannize
  • US
2 8.4
to oppress
152 6.5
to persecute
98 7.0
to mistreat
63 2.9

Surface Forms

oppress infinitive
oppressed past
oppressed past participle
oppressing present participle
oppresses third person singular

Morphology

oppress = press (semi-transparent) = op + press

The formation op- + press ('press down') yields the figurative meaning 'to keep down or subjugate'; the metaphorical shift from physical pressing to cruel treatment may not be fully predictable for all learners.

Etymology

Oppress comes from Latin parts ob- ('against') and premere ('to press'), so it originally meant to 'press down'. Think of it like the everyday word press: someone is pushed down by power, so to oppress is to treat people cruelly and take away their freedom.