Synonyms of oppression

oppression

noun

ə-ˈpre-shən 

as in sadness

a state or spell of low spirits

suffered a lingering oppression in the weeks after his dog died

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sadness
• depression
• sorrowfulness
• melancholy
• sorrow
• anguish
• mournfulness
• grief
• misery
• unhappiness
• gloom
• agony
• despair
• dejection
• dreariness
• desperation
• joylessness
• pain
• heartsickness
• blues
• gloominess
• mourning
• glumness
• dumps
• miserableness
• blue devils
• forlornness
• despondency
• desolation
• distress
• boredom
• despondence
• disconsolateness
• downheartedness
• mopes
• doldrums
• dispiritedness
• dolefulness
• despond
• discouragement
• melancholia
• hopelessness
• regret
• self-pity
• wretchedness
• somberness
• woe
• disheartenment
• dolor
• ennui
• tedium
• woefulness
• moroseness
• moodiness
• morbidness
• dismalness
• drear
• self-despair
• morosity
• rue

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• joy
• happiness
• intoxication
• ecstasy
• exultation
• elation
• euphoria
• jubilation
• exhilaration
• heaven
• bliss
• rapture
• joyousness
• exuberance
• gladness
• joyfulness
• felicity
• mirth
• glee
• gayness
• humor
• merriment
• gaiety
• optimism
• joviality
• jollity
• lightheartedness
• hopefulness
• elatedness
• blissfulness
• cheerfulness
• contentment
• satisfaction
• rapturousness
• content
• gladsomeness
• cheer
• cheeriness
• mirthfulness
• gleefulness
• contentedness
• gratification
• delight
• sunniness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of oppression

James, as always, brings his Dickensian eyes and ears to his birth country’s gay culture, which flourished in its own way even during years of oppression and misinformation. — Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 2 Sep. 2026

The state is actually putting in so much money to maintain a system of oppression in order to maintain its iron grip on power. — Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2026

The high-pressure oppression will temporarily come to an end thanks to an influx of moisture that will help temperatures fall back to average, if not below, for the final days of August and the start of September. — Tevian Whitehurst, AZCentral.com, 28 Aug. 2026

The Tricontinental’s history offers a more nuanced and principled political position, one that opposes oppression in any form and that places self-determination for all people at the heart of its politics. — Anne Garland Mahler, The Conversation, 25 Aug. 2026