oppress

Verb

Meaning

To impose excessive burdens upon; to overload; hence, to treat with unjust rigor or with cruelty.

To ravish; to violate.

To put down; to crush out; to suppress.

To produce a sensation of weight in (some part of the body); as, my lungs are oppressed by the damp air; excess of food oppresses the stomach.

Source: Webster's dictionary

Synonyms

suppress crush persecute harrow harry lade cumber subject plague hound tax stress trouble abuse dominate
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Antonyms

gladden help serve content aid engage
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Hypernyms

dun rag torment frustrate crucify bedevil

Hyponyms

reduce purge subdue repress subjugate quash

Related terms

oppression oppressive

Phrases with the word

to oppress

Derivatives

oppressed oppressing

Anagrams

porpess

Examples

No generous mind delights to oppress the weak, but rather to cherish and protect. Anne Brontë

Give all the power to the many, they will oppress the few. Give all the power to the few, they will oppress the many. Alexander Hamilton

To view the opposition as dangerous is to misunderstand the basic concepts of democracy. To oppress the opposition is to assault the very foundation of democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi

Paper money has had the effect in your State that it ever will have, to ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open a door to every species of fraud and injustice. George Washington

Leaders who do not act dialogically, but insist on imposing their decisions, do not organize the people--they manipulate them. They do not liberate, nor are they liberated: they oppress. Paulo Freire

It is doubtful if the oppressed ever fight for freedom. They fight for pride and power - power to oppress others. Eric Hoffer

Close letter words and terms

oppositive case oppositively oppositiveness oppressed oppressed community oppressed demographic