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oppress

 - 3 dictionary results

op⋅press

  [uh-pres]
Use oppress in a Sentence
–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.
2. to lie heavily upon (the mind, a person, etc.): Care and sorrow oppressed them.
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.
Origin:
1300–50; ME oppressen < MF oppresser < ML oppressāre, deriv. of L oppressus ptp. of opprimere to squeeze, suffocate, equiv. to op- op- + -primere (comb. form of premere) to press 1

Related forms:
op⋅press⋅i⋅ble, adjective
op⋅pres⋅sor, noun

Synonyms:
1, 2. 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. 1. maltreat, persecute.

Antonyms:
2. uphold, encourage.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To oppress
op·press   (ə-prěs')   
tr.v.   op·pressed, op·press·ing, op·press·es

  1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny.

  2. To weigh heavily on: Poverty oppresses the spirit.

  3. Obsolete To overwhelm or crush.


[Middle English oppressen, from Old French opresser, back-formation from oppression, oppression, from Latin oppressiō, oppressiōn-, from oppressus, past participle of opprimere, to press against : ob-, against; see ob- + premere, to press; see per-4 in Indo-European roots.]
op·pres'sor n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

oppress 
c.1340, from O.Fr. oppresser (13c.), from M.L. oppressare, freq. of L. opprimere "press against, crush" (in L.L. "to rape"), from ob "against" + premere "to press, push" (see press (v.1)). Oppression (1340) "harsh exercise of authority" is from O.Fr. opression, from L. oppressionem (nom. oppressio), from pp. stem of opprimere.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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