as in harsh
difficult to endure
an oppressive regime that rules through terror
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Recent Examples of oppressive
These were just a few of the effects from this week’s oppressive heat wave, which exposed some vulnerabilities.
2️⃣ Good and bad: Heart disease is the leading cause of death around the world, yet a new study found that deaths from heart attacks have dropped by nearly 90% in the US.
—
Daniel Wine, CNN Money, 25 June 2025
The players had to deal with oppressive heat of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
—Manuel Veth, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025
In reality, Iran’s proxies relied on the same oppressive behavior as that of the Tehran regime.
—Lina Khatib, Time, 19 June 2025
The decision to leave Iran was driven by the oppressive changes following the Iranian Revolution in 1979 concerning the treatment of women.
—Ashley J. Dimella, FOXNews.com, 16 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for oppressive
Daniel Wine, CNN Money, 25 June 2025
The players had to deal with oppressive heat of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
—Manuel Veth, Forbes.com, 24 June 2025
In reality, Iran’s proxies relied on the same oppressive behavior as that of the Tehran regime.
—Lina Khatib, Time, 19 June 2025
The decision to leave Iran was driven by the oppressive changes following the Iranian Revolution in 1979 concerning the treatment of women.
—Ashley J. Dimella, FOXNews.com, 16 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for oppressive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oppressive
Adjective
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Come spring, the Ranger III carries everything from outhouses and diesel fuel for the generators to construction supplies to repair whatever damage Mother Nature did to facilities over the harsh winter.—
Diana Lambdin Meyer,
USA Today,
28 June 2025
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The United States and Europe must finally sever all economic ties with Russia (e.g., nuclear partnerships) and impose harsher sanctions on Russia and secondary sanctions so that China and others face consequences for their support of the war.—
Laura Thornton,
Twin Cities,
27 June 2025
Adjective
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The 28-year-old is playing on a medical exemption after a brutal stretch of injuries and illness.—
Devlina Sarkar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 June 2025
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Each of the disciples have their own secrets to bear, life taking them on some brutal pathways, the piece leaning into powerful introspection.—
David John Chávez,
Mercury News,
28 June 2025
Adjective
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Even these young players already have major tournament experience — a huge strength given their tough group.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
28 June 2025
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Nor is anything that tough necessary to prevent chronic illness.—
Carolyn Rosenblatt,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
Adjective
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Pritzker’s speech, which occurred as national Democrats were largely leaderless in countering and criticizing Trump’s early chaotic presidential moves, aimed to fill the vacuum and garnered significant attention by offering a searing response to the president for a national audience.—
Rick Pearson,
Chicago Tribune,
24 June 2025
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And first baseman Colby Thorndyke comes in with a searing swing.—
Steven Louis Goldstein,
New York Times,
21 June 2025
Adjective
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The idyllic universe that Mafalda had lived in was falling apart; the fissures in Argentinean society had become too severe, too dangerous, and the time for making sarcastic cracks at those in power had passed.—
Daniel Alarcón,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
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The Boulder County District Attorney’s Office announced the new charges on Monday after the death of Karen Diamond, who suffered severe injuries from the perpetrator’s Molotov cocktails.—
David Zimmermann,
The Washington Examiner,
30 June 2025
Adjective
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What is a totalitarian leader other than an individualist taking that creed to its cruel conclusions, erasing the uniqueness of every other person into mere characters in a drama?—
Ed Simon
June 23,
Literary Hub,
23 June 2025
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This realization reconfigures the entire book, recasting their ongoing dialogue and seemingly cordial relations as an interstellar jail—and the novel itself into an extended, especially cruel prison sentence.—
Robert Rubsam,
The Atlantic,
21 June 2025
Adjective
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Sandoval has received some pay bumps, including a temporary $10,000-a-year bonus for Hawaii special education teachers designed to alleviate shortages in that and other hard-to-staff areas.—
Alia Wong,
USA TODAY,
14 Feb. 2023
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Whether those numbers are an overstatement, or possibly an understatement, is hard to say.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes,
13 Feb. 2023
Adjective
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Avoid scrubbing the microwave’s interior with rough materials like steel wool or abrasive sponges.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
27 June 2025
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Ransom Canyon star Josh Duhamel didn’t have a rough time getting to know the set of his new film Off the Grid because the actor lives off the grid in real-life.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
27 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Oppressive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oppressive. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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