oppressive

adjective op·pres·sive \ ə-ˈpre-siv \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: oppressive in a Sentence

Definition of oppressive

1 : unreasonably burdensome or severe

oppressive legislation

oppressive taxes

the oppressive power of corporations and Wall Street
—Jim Hightower

2 : tyrannical

an oppressive government

3 : overwhelming or depressing to the spirit or senses

an oppressive climate

the dusty drabness that was oppressive in its uneventfulness
—Geoffrey Moorhouse

—

oppressively

adverb

—

oppressiveness

noun

See oppressive defined for English-language learners

See oppressive defined for kids

Examples of oppressive in a Sentence

The country is ruled by an oppressive regime.
I think these laws are oppressive.
This region suffers from oppressive heat in the summer months.
The situation was extremely tense; no one said a word, and the silence was oppressive.

Recent Examples of oppressive from the Web

With traffic running smoothly and minimal waits at the ticket gates, the biggest obstacle for nearly 300,000 racing fans at the Indianapolis 500 Sunday was the oppressive heat.

— james briggs, Indianapolis Star, "Nearly 200 treated as temperatures just miss record high at Indy 500," 27 May 2018
That oppressive heat, a side effect of climate change, has made life hard for the country's humans and infrastructure.

— amanda erickson, Washington Post, "It’s so hot in Australia that bats’ brains are frying," 9 Jan. 2018
The humidity was oppressive, the gray a wet blanket.

— jenny rough, chicagotribune.com, "Where you live has a big impact on happiness and health," 14 May 2018
Ars' style lords will continue to enforce the oppressive one-space-after-period standard, despite what science has to say about it.

— sean gallagher, Ars Technica, "Two spaces after period are better than one, except maybe they aren’t, study finds," 7 May 2018
The Cuba skeptics claim that Obama's opening did little to change the behavior of the oppressive Cuban regime, but their critics argue that progress would be slow and fitful and that the U.S. hawks cling to an anachronistic Cold War mind-set.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "Cuba heads toward a post-Castro future, with or without Trump," 19 Apr. 2018
On October 1, 1878, exasperated laborers on the Caribbean island of St. Croix set fire to houses, sugar mills and around 50 plantations while protesting oppressive working conditions enforced by Danish colonial rulers.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "New Statue Immortalizes Mary Thomas, Who Led a Revolt Against Danish Colonial Rule," 5 Apr. 2018
There are the oppressive characters in the Waterford household, like Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) and Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd).

— refinery29.com, "The Handmaid's Tale Season 2, Episode 4 Recap: Helicopter Aunts," 9 May 2018
For years, people who live under oppressive regimes have benefited from a technique called domain fronting to route their traffic around censors.

— brian barrett, WIRED, "Security News This Week: Drone Swarms Are Messing With Hostage Situations Now," 5 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'oppressive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of oppressive

borrowed from Middle French & Medieval Latin; Middle French oppressif, borrowed from Medieval Latin oppressīvus, from Latin oppressus, past participle of opprimere "to press on, stifle, overpower" + -īvus -ive — more at oppress

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1677

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year