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

Because they’ve been brutalized by the same machinery of repression. — Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2026

Belarusian filmmaker Andrei Kutsila explores state repression in Listy (Letters From the Silenced Country), told through correspondence from five political prisoners. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026

Frequently subjected to repression and censorship, some of them were excluded from the Association of Visual Artists and thus denied access to state funding, exhibition opportunities, commissions, and official recognition as professional artists. — Elisa R. Linn, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026

The divide reflects not only differing political views, but competing experiences of exile, repression and what many believed the future of Iran should look like. — Julia Vargas Jones, CNN Money, 29 Aug. 2026