oppress

Word family

op·press /əˈpres/ verb [transitiveT]

1 CONTROLto treat a group of people unfairly or cruelly, and prevent them from having the same rights that other people in society have 压迫，压制

native tribes oppressed by the authorities

受到当局压迫的土著部落

2 FREE TO DO WHAT YOU WANTto make someone feel unhappy, worried, or uncomfortable 使压抑，使烦恼

The gloom in the chapel oppressed her.

小教堂的阴暗气氛使她感到压抑。

n Grammar

Oppress is often used in the passive.

Examples from the Corpus

oppress• Since colonial times, black people in South Africa have been oppressed by the white minority.• "My people were oppressed by your people for three hundred years, " Cavita commented.• They oppress, depress and divide the forces of possible resistance, and turn ordinary people against them.• The loneliness of her little apartment oppressed her.• The weight of inexpressible or pointless words oppressed him.• They no longer supply pretexts for local bullies to oppress, nor reason for western governments to turn a blind eye.• In fact culture can be used as another guise under which one group can hide to oppress the other.• Machines serve us: technology serves us; our habits oppress us, and enslave us.• Marxists have studied the role of the family in oppressing women.

Origin oppress

(1300-1400) French oppresser, from Latin oppressus, past participle of opprimere “to press against”

op·press verb →n GRAMMAR1

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