oppressive
Use Oppressive in a sentence
ɪv adjective
1.
burdensome, unjustly harsh, or tyrannical: an oppressive king; oppressive laws.
2.
causing discomfort by being excessive, intense, elaborate, etc.: oppressive heat.
3.
distressing or grievous: oppressive sorrows.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To oppressive
00:10
Oppressive
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
oppressive (əˈprɛsɪv) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | cruel, harsh, or tyrannical |
| 2. | heavy, constricting, or depressing |
| op'pressively | |
| —adv | |
| op'pressiveness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
oppressive
mid-17c., from M.L. oppressivus, from pp. stem of opprimere (see oppress). Related: Oppressively; oppressiveness.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Cite This Source
Example sentences
These outsiders introduce a break from the oppressive shadow cast by the series' ongoing cosmological tug-of-war.
Teachers and other intellectuals labor under oppressive government oversight.
The argument is that expanding a broken and oppressive government is simply not the way to accomplish it.
Oppressive societies don't start with people allowing statues, books or people.
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