oppression
/əˈpɹɛʃən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.79 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Oh, by what plots, by what forswearings, betrayings, oppressions, imprisonments, tortures, poisonings, and under what reasons of state and politic subtilty, have these forenamed kings […] pulled the vengeance of God upon themselves […]"
- ""Tibet challenges the conscience of the world," I told the audience at a gathering outside the town's main temple. "If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world.""
- "Extreme freedom is followed by extreme oppression, said Plato."
- "We're choosing to use "anti-Jewishness" [rather than "anti-Semitism"] in recognition of the separate experiences and different oppressions of other peoples who also claim the name of "Semite.""
- "Our oppression was lifted by the reappearance of the sun."
- "[…] St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit."
Etymology
From Middle English oppression, from Old French oppression, from Latin oppressiō (“a pressing down, violence, oppression”), from opprimō; see oppress.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: oppression, oppressiō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /əˈpɹɛʃən/
- British English: /əˈpɹɛʃən/