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

• IPA^(key): /əˈpɹɛs/
• Rhymes: -ɛs
• Hyphenation: op‧press

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To keep down by unjust force.

   The rural poor were oppressed by the land-owners.

2. (transitive) To make sad or gloomy.

   We were oppressed by the constant grey skies.

3. (transitive, obsolete) Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: Printed [by John Wolfe] for VVilliam 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.

Conjugation

Conjugation of oppress

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

Related terms

• oppression

Translations

keep down by unjust force

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: أَخْمَدَ‎ (ʾaḵmada)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: oprimir (ca)
• 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)
• Galician: oprimir (gl)
• Georgian: ჩაგვრა (čagvra), შევიწროება (ševic̣roeba)
• German: unterdrücken (de)
• Greek: please add this translation if you can

  Ancient: βαρύνω (barúnō)

• Hungarian: elnyom (hu), nyomorgat (hu), sanyargat (hu)

• Italian: opprimere (it)
• Japanese: 圧迫する (あっぱくする, appaku suru)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 압박하다 (ko) (apbakhada)
• Latin: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: nonope, aupēhi, kaupēhipēhi, tāmi, tātāmi, pēhi, whakawhiu, where, whakapēhi
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Ngazidja Comorian: ukandamiza, udhulumu
• Portuguese: oprimir (pt)
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: притесня́ть (ru) (pritesnjátʹ)
• Sanskrit: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: oprimir (es)
• Swedish: nedtrycka
• Thai: กดขี่ (th) (gòt-kìi)
• Tibetan: གཉའ་གནོན་བཏང (gnya' gnon btang)
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Uyghur: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

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

• porpess, soppers