Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The action of oppressing; arbitrary and cruel exercise of power.
  • noun The state of being oppressed.
  • noun A feeling of being weighed down in mind or body.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A pressing down; pressure; burden.
  • noun A feeling of weight; that state in which one experiences a sensation of weight or pressure; hence, lassitude; dullness of spirits; depression.
  • noun The act of oppressing or of imposing unreasonable or unjust burdens; the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, harsh, or severe manner; the imposition of severe or cruel measures or exactions; tyrannical or cruel exercise of power.
  • noun An oppressed state or condition; the state of those who are overburdened or oppressed, or treated with unjustness or undue severity, by persons in authority or power.
  • noun Whatever oppresses or causes hardship; an unjust or unreasonable imposition, exaction, or measure; a hardship.
  • noun Ravishment; rape. Chaucer.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of oppressing, or state of being oppressed.
  • noun That which oppresses; a hardship or injustice; cruelty; severity; tyranny.
  • noun A sense of heaviness or obstruction in the body or mind; depression; dullness; lassitude
  • noun obsolete Ravishment; rape.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.
  • noun The act of oppressing, or the state of being oppressed.
  • noun A feeling of being oppressed.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the state of being kept down by unjust use of force or authority:
  • noun a feeling of being oppressed
  • noun the act of subjugating by cruelty

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English oppression, from Old French oppression, from Latin oppressio ("a pressing down, violence, oppression"), from opprimere, past participle oppressus ("to press down"); see oppress.

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Examples

  • Saying “my oppression is as bad as your oppression” on the basis of subjective feeling is always a dangerous game.

    Comments On Don Imus Debacle 2007

  • Robert Mugabe for what it called oppression of his own people and called for an immediate end to the demolitions of shantytowns.

    ANC Daily News Briefing 2005

  • In short it matters not in the least what you baptize oppression, so long as it is oppression, or whether you call your tyrant "Jim" or "My Lord," so long as he is a tyrant.

    Germany and the Germans From an American Point of View Price Collier 1886

  • The politician does it to secure votes; but the worst class is composed of those who edit papers that circulate only among the scum of society, and embittered by the sight of luxuries beyond their reach, are always ready to denounce the rich and excite the lower classes against what they call the oppression of the aristocracy.

    The Great Riots of New York, 1712 to 1873 Joel Tyler Headley 1855

  • "That is what I call oppression!" returned Mr. Bacon, in momentary indignation, for the utterance of which he was as quickly repentant.

    The Lights and Shadows of Real Life 1847

  • The leader of the eastern Al-Zuwayya tribe threatened to cut oil exports unless authorities halted what he called the "oppression of protesters."

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • The leader of the Al-Zuwayya tribe in eastern Libya threatened on Sunday to cut oil exports to Western countries within 24 hours unless authorities stop what he called the "oppression of protesters".

    Evening Standard - Home 2011

  • This objection, however, or some other, rather political than moral, obtained such prevalence, that when Gay produced a second part, under the name of Polly, it was prohibited by the lord chamberlain; and he was forced to recompense his repulse by a subscription, which is said to have been so liberally bestowed, that what he called oppression ended in profit.

    The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in Nine Volumes Volume the Eighth: The Lives of the Poets, Volume II Samuel Johnson 1746

  • Polly, it was prohibited by the Lord Chamberlain; and he was forced to recompense his repulse by a subscription, which is said to have been so liberally bestowed that what he called oppression ended in profit.

    Johnson's Lives of the Poets — Volume 2 Samuel Johnson 1746

  • "HIJAB" (covering/Veil) or a secure place for your precious things, which you call oppression!!

    Yahoo! Answers: Latest Questions 2010

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