Synonyms of repression

repression

noun

ri-ˈpre-shən 

as in restraint

the checking of one's true feelings and impulses when dealing with others

psychologists talking about the repression of anger and how it affects one's health

Synonyms & Similar Words

• restraint
• discipline
• suppression
• inhibition
• composure
• constraint
• self-control
• discretion
• reserve
• refrainment
• self-restraint
• continence
• possession
• control
• self-command
• mastery
• silence
• willpower
• self-discipline
• self-censorship
• will
• distance
• self-government
• aloofness
• self-denial
• reticence
• self-mastery
• shyness
• bashfulness
• self-containment
• command
• modesty
• taciturnity
• self-possession
• detachedness
• self-poise

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• incontinence
• disinhibition
• gratification
• indulgence
• unconstraint
• frankness
• overindulgence
• candor
• bluntness
• uninhibitedness
• self-abandonment
• intemperance
• unrestrainedness
• self-indulgence
• immoderacy

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of repression

The networks were responding in solidarity to repression of a free press. — Miriam Waldvogel, Arkansas Online, 12 Oct. 2026

Drawing on personal archives, home videos, footage of street protests, newspapers and recorded voices, the filmmaker pieces together a portrait of a country shaped by political repression and a continuing hope for revolution. — Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 10 Oct. 2026

Five years after the Taliban swept back into power, the ban on girls’ education past sixth grade remains perhaps the movement’s most visible act of repression. — Mark Sappenfield, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Oct. 2026

The 30-page superseding indictment accuses the couple of overseeing a system of political repression that relied on Venezuela's military, intelligence agencies and security forces to torture their opponents, silence dissidents and maintain power. — Alice Gainer, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026