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Showing results for oppression. Search instead for oppressions.
Definitions

oppression

[uh-presh-uhn] / əˈprɛʃ ən /
NOUN
domination, subjection
Synonyms
STRONGEST
abuse brutality coercion cruelty despotism dictatorship domination injustice maltreatment persecution suffering tyranny
STRONG
autocracy calamity compulsion conquering control force hardness harshness injury severity subjection torment
WEAK
abusiveness forcibleness iron hand martial law overthrowing subduing
Antonyms
STRONGEST
help kindness niceness
STRONG
blessing democracy happiness joy powerlessness weakness
WEAK
cheer delight

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Sermons matter, but the most meaningful form of obligation and testimony is about showing up, with enough presence and force to constrain the oppression of power.

From Salon • Apr. 6, 2026

He has the confidence to only dress up his new dystopia a tad, letting the scale of the oppression creep up on you when, say, an açaí bowl salesman casually asks Tereza for her papers.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

A complex, funny, plangently sorrowful Pygmalion story is enacted between two people who are connected but also held apart by their separate histories of oppression.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

The 53-year-old was made a Nobel laureate in 2023 for her activism against female oppression in Iran.

From BBC • Feb. 8, 2026

What is happening here today is not injustice, but oppression, an attempt to throtde or stamp out a new form of life.

From "Native Son" by Richard Wright