repressed

adjective

re·​pressed ri-ˈprest 

1

: subjected to or marked by repression

2

: characterized by restraint

Synonyms of repressed

• muted
• restrained
• subdued
• quiet
• conservative

Examples of repressed in a Sentence

a 19th-century church in the repressed style favored by the strict religious sect

Recent Examples on the Web

Filmed here in July, the movie stars Jack Huston, nephew of Academy Award winner Angelica Huston, as a repressed university philosophy professor grappling with guilt over a past decision in his life. —Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 21 Nov. 2025

The citizen in you laughs heartily as this film, a tragicomedy, skewers the hypocrisies and ironies of the repressed West. —The New Yorker, New Yorker, 21 Nov. 2025

Shiv was such a restrained and repressed character emotionally. —Kate Aurthur, Variety, 7 Nov. 2025

This retrograde shifts from the Fire element (action and expression) to Water (intuition and emotion), forcing us to sit with what’s unsaid, unresolved or repressed. —Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1606, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for repressed

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

Kids Definition

repressed

adjective

re·​pressed ri-ˈprest 

1

: subjected to or marked by repression

a repressed child

2

: characterized by a keeping in check

Medical Definition

repressed

adjective

re·​pressed ri-ˈprest 

: subjected to or marked by repression

a repressed child

repressed anger