oppression Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the act of subjugating by cruelty
    subjugation.
    • the tyrant's oppression of the people
  2. noun the state of being kept down by unjust use of force or authority: "after years of oppression they finally revolted"
  3. noun a feeling of being oppressed
    oppressiveness.

WordNet

Op*pres"sion noun
Etymology
F., fr. L. oppressio.
Definitions
  1. The act of oppressing, or state of being oppressed.
  2. That which oppresses; a hardship or injustice; cruelty; severity; tyranny. "The multitude of oppressions." Job xxxv. 9.
  3. A sense of heaviness or obstruction in the body or mind; depression; dullness; lassitude; as, an oppression of spirits; an oppression of the lungs.
    There gentlee Sleep First found me, and with soft oppression seized My drowsed sense. Milton.
  4. Ravishment; rape. Obs. Chaucer.

Webster 1913