Synonyms of oppressing

oppressing

verb

present participle of oppress

1

as in torturing

to make sad

this gloomy weather is oppressing all of us

Synonyms & Similar Words

• torturing
• depressing
• burdening
• troubling
• saddening
• worrying
• concerning
• weighing down
• bothering
• getting down
• tormenting
• bumming (out)
• dejecting
• distressing
• afflicting
• disturbing
• ailing
• upsetting
• dashing
• discouraging
• unsettling
• disheartening
• demoralizing
• perturbing
• discomforting
• dispiriting
• unnerving
• daunting
• agitating
• disquieting
• exercising
• dismaying
• undoing
• unhinging
• freaking (out)
• discomposing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• rejoicing
• brightening
• assuring
• lightening
• comforting
• animating
• invigorating
• soothing
• reassuring
• enlivening
• consoling
• cheering (up)
• exciting
• stimulating
• encouraging
• inspiring
• buoying
• gladdening
• lifting
• pleasing
• exhilarating
• solacing
• gratifying
• delighting
• elevating
• uplifting
• boosting
• elating
• heartening

2

as in overcoming

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

• overcoming
• overwhelming
• devastating
• crushing
• overpowering
• grinding (down)
• swamping
• prostrating
• disturbing
• rocking
• drowning
• defeating
• overmastering
• whelming
• flooring
• upsetting
• snowing under
• sinking
• shattering
• throwing
• distressing
• refuting
• demoralizing
• deluging
• unnerving
• confuting
• staggering
• breaking
• unmanning

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of oppressing

Claiming that other people expressing their civil rights is oppressing them, and politicizing what are supposed to be non-partisan parts of how the government works on the state and federal level. — Literary Hub, 23 July 2026

Norway was itself a colonizer, and programs oppressing indigenous cultures and languages were in place well into the 1960s. — Ola Morris Innset, The Dial, 2 June 2026

Having been raised not too far from similarly-minded environs, this Turkish critic knows that keeping a pure and noble familial slate in patriarchy often means oppressing women. — Tomris Laffly, Variety, 20 May 2026

Israel has been grievously oppressing people in its area who are not Jewish. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 14 May 2026

Underlying such obvious acts of aggression lies an insidious tendency for transnational repression to flow from despots into democracies, oppressing lawyers of all nationalities in the process. — Irwin Cotler, Time, 8 May 2026

In Russia, Cuba, Iran, Belarus, and Uganda, dictatorships have carried on for decades—oppressing and killing their people, attacking their neighbors, and destabilizing their regions. — Garry Kasparov, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2026

Now, the Franciscan missionaries oppressing the Native Americans in the painting had arrows piercing their heads and bodies. — Shomik Mukherjee, Mercury News, 6 Sep. 2025