oppressed

adjective

op·​pressed ə-ˈprest 

: burdened by abuse of power or authority

Group identity in oppressed groups is always very strategic, always a calculation of advantage.

—Shelby Steele

They are neither oppressed minorities, whose needs have been etched into the nation's consciousness, nor members of the ruling elite, born with their hands on the reins of power.

—Anthony DeCurtis

Synonyms of oppressed

• persecuted

Examples of oppressed in a Sentence

setting out on a quixotic quest to right wrongs and to raise up the oppressed peoples of the world

Recent Examples on the Web

Any oppressed people find outlets in humor. —Damon Wise, Deadline, 14 Jan. 2026

In 2017, a Radio Free Asia reporter named Shohret Hoshur broke the story that the Chinese government was holding members of the fiercely oppressed Uyghur minority in concentration camps in Xinjiang. —Dexter Filkins, New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2026

So bringing something that’s a little edgier and a little darker feels like the way theater should go, and usually goes when people feel oppressed. —Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 5 Jan. 2026

Forget Martha’s Vineyard, poor oppressed victim Ayanna be scooping up Nantucket beachfront. —Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 5 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing oppressed

• the oppressed

Rhymes for oppressed

• acquiesced
• coalesced
• dispossessed
• manifest
• overdressed
• overstressed
• prepossessed
• reassessed
• reinvest
• repossessed
• unaddressed
• uncompressed