oppressive
pronunciation
How to pronounce oppressive in British English:
UK [əˈpresɪv]
How to pronounce oppressive in American English:
US [əˈprɛsɪv]
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- Adjective:
- weighing heavily on the senses or spirit
- marked by unjust severity or arbitrary behavior
Word Origin
- oppressive (adj.)
- 1640s, from Medieval Latin oppressivus, from oppress-, past participle stem of opprimere (see oppress). Related: Oppressively; oppressiveness.
Synonym
Example
- 1. He was sent to an oppressive boarding school .
- 2. Many exiles find switzerland oppressive and miss london 's variety .
- 3. The state would have to build a costly and oppressive infrastructure to audit private assets .
- 4. The oppressive and morbid atmosphere in which he had been brought up had paralysed his social development , but he soon became confident , optimistic and self-reliant .
- 5. Migrants who fled oppressive governments , for example , can hardly be expected to bankroll the regimes that drove them away .