as in persecuted
suffering grave abuse or injustice at the hands of one in authority
setting out on a quixotic quest to right wrongs and to raise up the oppressed peoples of the world
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
1
as in depressed
to make sad
this gloomy weather is oppressing all of us
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in overwhelmed
to subject to incapacitating emotional or mental stress
a film about a man who is haunted and oppressed by the secrets of his past
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of oppressed
Big Think, 26 Mar. 2026
The tiny minority that held this fragile wealth has long needed protection, both from the vast numbers of oppressed people needed to extract it and from the federal government determined to protect them.
—USA Today, 8 Mar. 2026
Horace D. Ballard, Artforum, 22 Apr. 2026
Much of progressive ideological frameworks tend to divide the world into oppressors and oppressed.
—Arie Perliger, The Conversation, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for oppressed
Adjective
According to Ehrman, Jesus’s teachings universalized earlier Jewish ethics by extending the duty to care for the poor, oppressed, and needy beyond one’s own community to include all people.
—Big Think, 26 Mar. 2026
The tiny minority that held this fragile wealth has long needed protection, both from the vast numbers of oppressed people needed to extract it and from the federal government determined to protect them.
—USA Today, 8 Mar. 2026
Verb
Communities endured the triple indignity of working on the statues and being both redressed and oppressed by those statues.
—Horace D. Ballard, Artforum, 22 Apr. 2026
Much of progressive ideological frameworks tend to divide the world into oppressors and oppressed.
—Arie Perliger, The Conversation, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for oppressed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oppressed
Verb
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As press reports began suggesting that Patrick had been depressed and heavily in debt, Olivia contacted [security expert] Gavin de Becker.—
Janine Rubenstein,
PEOPLE,
13 May 2026
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At the time, press reports suggested that McDermott had been depressed and heavily in debt, Hild reported.—
Martha Ross,
Mercury News,
13 May 2026
Verb
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One video from the scene showed a police officer overwhelmed by the crowd, and using pepper spray to control the mob.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
18 May 2026
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That experience lead her to create Reale Actives, in hopes of making the treatment both aesthetically nicer than a lot of what's on the market, as well as simpler for those overwhelmed by all the treatment options.—
Beth Shapouri,
PEOPLE,
17 May 2026
Verb
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Wallace is particularly troubled by how quickly hantavirus was incorporated into the COVID-era health conspiracies and the distrust in public health authorities that still thrive in certain online ecosystems.—
Allison Parshall,
Scientific American,
15 May 2026
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What troubled me most was the possibility that patients might mistake simulated empathy for genuine human connection.—
Steve D. Klein,
STAT,
14 May 2026
Verb
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On a positive note, Cheatham said the Orlando community came together to support those devastated by the shooting.—
Silas Morgan,
The Orlando Sentinel,
23 May 2026
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Needless to say Roher was devastated, if not surprised, by Alexei Navalny’s death.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
23 May 2026
Verb
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In 2017, the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission determined ther was credible evidence that Day was tortured into a false confession.—
Todd Feurer,
CBS News,
14 May 2026
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On the device was a recording lasting over seven hours that allegedly captured the sound of Torbick being tortured, prosecutors reportedly said.—
Liam Quinn,
PEOPLE,
12 May 2026
Verb
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Woad overcame a double bogey on the par-4 sixth.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 May 2026
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That alone is an achievement, but for Porter, a single mother of 11 who overcame hearing loss along the way, the accomplishment meant even more.—
David Chiu,
PEOPLE,
16 May 2026
Verb
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Internationally, however, the film’s distribution prospects rest largely on Cotillard, also burdened with the heaviest dramatic lifting to do as the stricken, unworldly protagonist who bridges the film’s two improbably connected realms.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
18 May 2026
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Students are burdened with debt.—
Cory Turner,
NPR,
14 May 2026
Verb
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My greatest wish is that this ruling sets a precedent for the Treasury and serves the thousands of ordinary citizens who are abused and crushed every day by a system that presumes their guilt and forces them to prove their innocence at the cost of economic and emotional ruin.—
Jem Aswad,
Variety,
18 May 2026
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Texas oil companies would get crushed.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
18 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Oppressed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oppressed. Accessed 25 May. 2026.
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