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oppress

   Also found in: Legal, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
op·press  (-prs)
tr.v. op·pressed, op·press·ing, op·press·es
1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny.
2. To weigh heavily on: Poverty oppresses the spirit.
3. Obsolete To overwhelm or crush.

[Middle English oppressen, from Old French opresser, back-formation from oppression, oppression, from Latin oppressi, oppressin-, from oppressus, past participle of opprimere, to press against : ob-, against; see ob- + premere, to press; see per-4 in Indo-European roots.]

op·pressor n.

oppress
Verb
1. to put down or control by cruelty or force
2. to make anxious or uncomfortable [Latin ob- against + premere to press]
oppression n
oppressor n
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Verb1.oppress - come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority; "The government oppresses political activists"
quash, repress, subdue, subjugate, keep down, reduce - put down by force or intimidation; "The government quashes any attempt of an uprising"; "China keeps down her dissidents very efficiently"; "The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land"
2.oppress - cause to suffer; "Jews were persecuted in the former Soviet Union"
bedevil, dun, rag, torment, frustrate, crucify - treat cruelly; "The children tormented the stuttering teacher"
purge - oust politically; "Deng Xiao Ping was purged several times throughout his lifetime"

oppress
verb 1. subjugate, abuse, suppress, wrong, master, overcome, crush, overwhelm, put down, subdue, overpower, persecute, rule over, enslave, maltreat, hold sway over, trample underfoot, bring someone to heel, tyrannize over, rule with an iron hand, bring someone under the yoke << OPPOSITE liberate
verb 2. depress, burden, discourage, torment, daunt, harass, afflict, sadden, vex, weigh down, dishearten, cast someone down, dispirit, take the heart out of, deject, lie or weigh heavy upon, make someone despondent
Translations
Spanish oppress [əˈprɛs] vtoprimir
French oppress [əˈprɛs] vtopprimer
German oppress [əˈprɛs] vtunterdrücken
Italian oppress [əˈprɛs] vtopprimere

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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
But virtue will never destroy what is virtuous; nor can what is right be the ruin of the state: therefore such a law can never be right, nor can the acts of a tyrant ever be wrong, for of necessity they must all be just; for he, from his unlimited power, compels every one to obey his command, as the multitude oppress the rich.
If you are a tyrant by nature, the temptation is strong, I allow; but no generous mind delights to oppress the weak, but rather to cherish and protect.
You have not: A cottager, I mark'd a throne Of half the world as all my own, And murmur'd at such lowly lot - But, just like any other dream, Upon the vapour of the dew My own had past, did not the beam Of beauty which did while it thro' The minute - the hour - the day - oppress My mind with double loveliness.
 
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