oppress

CEFRB2

/əˈpɹɛs/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To treat people cruelly and unfairly through power.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.

Examples

  • Hooray! We have another dreamy, starry-eyed idealist to disenfranchise and oppress!

  • The law won't let anyone oppress people.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To make sad or gloomy.

  2. To keep down by unjust force.

  3. To sexually violate; to rape.

More examples

In context

  • You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.

  • The rural poor were oppressed by the land-owners.

  • We were oppressed by the constant grey skies.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The cruel king would blank his people every month by taking all their food.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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.