Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of oppress

52 similar words

Another word for oppress is upset. Other synonyms of oppress are unhappy, grieve, depress, desolate and dispirit.

Synonyms and similar words for oppress

verbTo keep down by unjust force.

verbTo make sad or gloomy.

  • begloomTo sadden.
  • get downTo depress; discourage; fatigue.
  • aggrieveTo cause someone to feel pain or sorrow to; to afflict.
  • besorrowTo sorrow about or over; care about; fill with care or sorrow; make sad.
  • grieveTo cause sorrow or distress to.
  • pain
  • bring downTo make (someone) feel bad emotionally.
  • come down onTo cause melancholy in (someone).
  • darkenTo render gloomy, darker in mood.
  • dashTo dishearten; to sadden.
  • dejectMake sad or dispirited.
  • depressTo make depressed, sad or bored.
  • desolateTo make someone sad, forlorn and hopeless.
  • dispiritTo lower the morale of; to make despondent; to dishearten.
  • forset UK, dialectalTo upset; hinder.
  • grievenTo make or become grievous or grief-stricken; to fill or be filled with grief.
  • sadden
  • sadden upTo become or make (something) sad.
  • ungladdenTo take the gladness from.
  • unhappyTo make or become unhappy; to sadden.
  • upsetTo make (a person) angry, distressed, or unhappy.
  • attrist archaicTo sadden; to make sad.
  • begrieve archaicTo cause grief or grieving.
  • contristate obsoleteTo make sorrowful; to sadden or grieve.
  • engrieve archaicTo cause grief to, to vex or pain; to associate with vexation or pain.
  • moan obsoleteTo distress (someone); to sadden.
  • repent archaic
  • rue obsoleteTo cause to feel sorrow or pity.
  • tristitiate obsoleteTo sadden.

verbPhysically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.

verbTo sexually violate; to rape.

  • outrageTo sexually violate; to rape.
  • violateTo rape.
  • vitiateTo violate, to rape.
  • dishonourTo violate or rape.
  • forceTo violate (a woman); to rape.
  • misuseTo rape (a woman); later more generally, to sexually abuse (someone).
  • polluteTo violate sexually; to debauch; to dishonour.
  • rape
  • ravage slangTo rape.
  • r-word euphemisticTo rape.
  • scotch slangTo rape.
  • turn out slangTo rape; to coerce an otherwise heterosexual individual into performing a homosexual role.
  • grape euphemistic
  • abuse archaicTo injure; to maltreat; to hurt; to treat with cruelty, especially repeatedly.
  • constuprate obsoleteTo rape, violate.
  • defile obsoleteTo deprive (someone) of their sexual chastity or purity, often not consensually; to deflower, to rape.
  • defoul obsoleteTo defile the chastity of; to debauch, to rape.
  • ravish datedTo rape.
  • viole obsoleteTo violate, especially to rape.

Meaning of oppress

  1. verb To keep down by unjust force.
  2. verb To make sad or gloomy.
  3. verb Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush.

Full definition of oppress

oppress in other languages

Questions about synonyms of oppress

What is another word for oppress?
Oppress has 52 synonyms on Word.ws, such as upset, unhappy, grieve, depress, desolate, dispirit, deject and aggrieve.
What does oppress mean?
Oppress means to keep down by unjust force.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: oppress (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “Synonyms of oppress.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/oppress. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.