oppression
The exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.
Other meanings
The act of oppressing, or the state of being oppressed.
“Extreme freedom is followed by extreme oppression, said Plato.”
A feeling of being oppressed. Special usage may include a sense of heaviness or obstruction in the body or mind; depression; dullness; lassitude.
“Our oppression was lifted by the reappearance of the sun.”
Related words
- antioppression
- downpression
- nonoppression
- oppressional
- oppressionist
- silence is oppression
- Oppression Olympics
- triple oppression
Example sentences
Word history
From Latin "oppressiō" (a pressing down, violence, oppression).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “oppression” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above, published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.