oppress
/əˈpɹɛs/ verb, noun
Forms oppresses oppressing oppressed oppressest oppressedst oppresseth
- verb (transitive) To keep down by unjust force. “The rural poor were oppressed by the land-owners.”
- verb (transitive) To make sad or gloomy. “We were oppressed by the constant grey skies.”
- verb (transitive, obsolete) Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.
- verb (transitive, obsolete) To sexually violate; to rape.
- noun (obsolete) Oppression.
Synonyms
suppress entrap begloom get down aggrieve attrist begrieve besorrow grieve pain bring down come down on contristate darken dash deject depress desolate dispirit engrieve crush persecute
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.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To impose excessive burdens upon; to overload; hence, to treat with unjust rigor or with cruelty. Wyclif.
- verb To ravish; to violate. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Etymology [F. oppresser, LL. oppressare, fr. L. oppressus, p. p. of opprimere; ob (see Ob-) + premere to press. See Press.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “oppress”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details