as in tyrants
a person who uses power or authority in a cruel, unjust, or harmful way
the dictatorship had scarcely been overthrown when the formerly oppressed suddenly abandoned their democratic ideals and became the oppressors
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Recent Examples of oppressors
Natalie Portman stars as Evey, a young working-class woman rescued from the secret police by a masked freedom fighter known only as V (Hugo Weaving), who is leading a plot to take down the oppressors in dramatic fashion.
—
Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2025
There were only the oppressors and the oppressed.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2025
Bad actors are counting on us to tear each other apart—to fall for the narcissism of small differences, to turn on our allies instead of our oppressors.
—Andrew Weinstein, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
Movie lovers tend to think of producers as dictators of formulas, oppressors of originality, the enemies of art, but that just reflects the unfortunate history of studio filmmaking in Hollywood and elsewhere.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2025
The poem presents the Trojans, and the future Romans of Virgil’s own time, as both the underdogs and the oppressors, both the migrants and the colonizers, both the wretched refugees and the imperial overlords.
—Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
And Dafoe, an actor who’s always excelled at playing off-kilter figures, keeps us guessing about the soft-spoken but steely Anniston, who seems intent on paying for not only his sins but those of oppressors in general.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 5 Nov. 2025
There were only the oppressors and the oppressed.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 Oct. 2025
Bad actors are counting on us to tear each other apart—to fall for the narcissism of small differences, to turn on our allies instead of our oppressors.
—Andrew Weinstein, Time, 12 Sep. 2025
Movie lovers tend to think of producers as dictators of formulas, oppressors of originality, the enemies of art, but that just reflects the unfortunate history of studio filmmaking in Hollywood and elsewhere.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2025
The poem presents the Trojans, and the future Romans of Virgil’s own time, as both the underdogs and the oppressors, both the migrants and the colonizers, both the wretched refugees and the imperial overlords.
—Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
And Dafoe, an actor who’s always excelled at playing off-kilter figures, keeps us guessing about the soft-spoken but steely Anniston, who seems intent on paying for not only his sins but those of oppressors in general.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oppressors
Noun
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As historian Timothy Snyder warns, tyrants will always take advantage of a national crisis to consolidate their power and remove their opponents’ civil liberties.—
Rev. Nathan Empsall,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
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And while the band's frontman Freddie Mercury only made it into his 40s, the song's question continues to haunt people—especially aging tyrants who fear that the icy hand of death is upon their shoulder and want far more time to ensure both national and personal glory.—
Nate Anderson,
ArsTechnica,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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America preached democracy while supporting some of the most brutal dictators in the region.—
Shadi Hamid,
Time,
3 Nov. 2025
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Yet, in a recent interview with fellow journalist Jorge Ramos, Mamdani dodged questions about whether Venezuela’s and Cuba’s rulers are dictators.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Oppressors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oppressors. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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