oppress

English

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.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛs

Verb

oppress (third-person singular simple present oppresses, present participle oppressing, simple past and past participle oppressed)

1. (obsolete) Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, London: William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book II, canto X:

     Most mercilesse of women, VVyden hight, / Her other sonne fast sleeping did oppresse, / And with most cruell hand him murdred pittilesse.

2. (transitive) To keep down by force

   The rural poor were oppressed by the land-owners.

3. (transitive) To make sad or gloomy

   We were oppressed by the constant grey skies.

Conjugation

Conjugation of oppress

infinitive	(to) oppress
	present tense	past tense
1st person singular	oppress	oppressed
2nd person singular	oppress, oppressest1
3rd person singular	oppresss, oppresseth1
plural	oppress
subjunctive	oppress
imperative	oppress	—
participles	oppressing	oppressed
1) Archaic or obsolete.

Related terms

• oppression

Translations

keep down by force

• Arabic: أَخْمَدَ‏‎ (ʾaḵmada)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 壓迫 (zh), 压迫 (zh) (yāpò)

• Czech: utiskovat
• Danish: undertrykke
• Dutch: onderdrukken (nl)
• Esperanto: subpremi, kontraŭpremi
• Finnish: sortaa (fi), alistaa (fi)
• French: opprimer (fr)
• Georgian: ჩაგვრა (čagvra), შევიწროება (ševic̣roeba)
• German: unterdrücken (de)

• Hungarian: elnyom (hu), nyomorgat (hu), sanyargat (hu)
• Italian: opprimere (it)
• Japanese: 圧迫する (あっぱくする, appaku suru)
• Korean: 압박하다 (ko) (apbakhada)
• Maori: nonope, aupēhi, kaupēhipēhi, tāmi, tātāmi, pēhi, whakawhiu, where, whakapēhi
• Ngazidja Comorian: ukandamiza, udhulumu
• Portuguese: oprimir (pt)
• Russian: притесня́ть (ru) (pritesnjátʹ)
• Spanish: oprimir (es)
• Swedish: nedtrycka

to make sad or gloomy

• Finnish: painaa + genitive + mieltä, ahdistaa (fi)
• French: oppresser (fr)

• Hungarian: lehangol (hu), lesújt (hu), lever (hu)

Further reading

• oppress in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• oppress in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• soppers