- 1oppress somebody to treat someone in a cruel and unfair way, especially by not giving them the same freedom, rights, etc. as other people The regime is accused of oppressing religious minorities.
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- 2oppress somebody to make someone only able to think about sad or worrying things synonym weigh somebodydown The gloomy atmosphere in the office oppressed her.
oppress
verbNAmE//əˈprɛs//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they oppress he / she / it oppresses
past simple oppressed
-ing form oppressing
NAmE//əˈprɛʃn//
noun [uncountable] victims of oppressionSee oppress in the Oxford Advanced Learner's DictionaryCheck pronunciation: oppress