1
as in to depress
to make sad
this gloomy weather is oppressing all of us
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to overwhelm
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress
a film about a man who is haunted and oppressed by the secrets of his past
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of oppress
However, when your organization was founded less than 45 years after slavery was abolished, when Black women were still being forced to be wet nurses to the very children of those who oppressed them and lynching was a common occurrence below the Mason-Dixon Line?
—
Essence, 3 Oct. 2025
But for now, we’re stuck in a ratchet, where violent losers copy one another, and their deeds become an excuse to oppress the rest of us.
—Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 27 Sep. 2025
Anyone who’s in power can barely resist the urge to oppress people with less power.
—Mathew Rodriguez, Them., 23 Sep. 2025
Yet we are also invited to see the Trojans, not the native Italians, as the eastern, luxury-loving imperialist invaders who oppress a noble rustic people.
—Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for oppress
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oppress
Verb
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Merchants are seeing this wobbly job market help to depress consumer confidence.—
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This sounds like depressing stuff, and Mothertongue is not extremely upbeat.—
Verb
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Duncyte, the master’s student from Lithuania, said she was immediately overwhelmed by Colorado’s beauty and wildlife.—
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Families will drop their plans, get sicker and even die without essential treatment, and hospitals will be overwhelmed with untreated people coming to the emergency room.—
Verb
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Such subsidies drive up demand, and therefore costs, while also burdening taxpayers.—
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Both left office humbled, burdened with lousy poll numbers and facing a well of deep voter discontent.—
Verb
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Group members want to see Bonta’s office take ownership of a review, as occurred in Hawaii after Maui’s devastating Lahaina fire.—
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The regime’s regional proxies have been devastated.—
Verb
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Still, whatever validity there is to his pain, Peter becomes a high priest of hallucination and Coon’s tortured Agnes his disciple.—
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In Chechnya, a region in southern Russia with a predominantly Muslim population, authorities launched an open hunt for gay men—police rounded them up and tortured many of them, with some being killed.—
Verb
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Samsung says these structural improvements allow the HP5 to overcome traditional low-light limitations.—
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Vance’s second biggest battle is overcoming political history, which statistically does not favor incumbent vice presidents’ chances of winning the White House.—
Verb
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Saraswathi Vedam is saddened by the latest delay, but said her brother remains patient.—
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Lue was saddened to learn his good friend, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, was arrested and charged by federal authorities with money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy.—
Verb
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My message this week is about not letting our hearts be troubled, and Jesus is the way.—
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On one of the final days of the semester, Raymundo peered into his Infiniti J30’s engine bay, searching for the issue that had troubled the car.—
Cite this Entry
“Oppress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oppress. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
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