Hyper Dictionary

English Dictionary Computer Dictionary Thesaurus Dream Dictionary Medical Dictionary


Search Dictionary:  

Meaning of OPPRESSIVE

Pronunciation:  u'presiv

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [adj]  marked by unjust severity or arbitrary behavior; "the oppressive government"; "oppressive laws"; "a tyrannical parent"; "tyrannous disregard of human rights"
  2. [adj]  weighing heavily on the senses or spirit; "the atmosphere was oppressive"; "oppressive sorrows"
 
 Sponsored Links: 
 
 Synonyms: domineering, heavy, tyrannical, tyrannous
 

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
\Op*press"ive\, a. [Cf. F. oppressif.]
1. Unreasonably burdensome; unjustly severe, rigorous, or
   harsh; as, oppressive taxes; oppressive exactions of
   service; an oppressive game law. --Macaulay.
2. Using oppression; tyrannical; as, oppressive authority or
   commands.
3. Heavy; overpowering; hard to be borne; as, oppressive
   grief or woe.
         To ease the soul of one oppressive weight. --Pope.
   -- {Op*press"ive*ly}, adv. -- {Op*press"ive*ness}, n.
 
Thesaurus Terms
 
 Related Terms: absolute, absolutist, absolutistic, agonizing, airless, annoying, arbitrary, arduous, aristocratic, arrogant, authoritarian, authoritative, autocratic, backbreaking, besetting, black, bleak, bossy, bothersome, breathless, breezeless, brutal, burdensome, close, crushing, cumbersome, cumbrous, demanding, depressant, depressing, depressive, despotic, dictatorial, discouraging, disheartening, dismal, dispiriting, distressing, dolorous, domineering, down, effortful, encumbering, exacting, exhausting, exigent, feudal, forced, grievous, grinding, grueling, hampering, hard-earned, hard-fought, harrowing, harsh, heavy, hefty, Herculean, high-handed, humid, ill-ventilated, impedimental, impeding, impeditive, imperative, imperial, imperious, incumbent, intolerable, irksome, killing, labored, laborious, lordly, lumpish, magisterial, magistral, massive, masterful, miserable, monocratic, muggy, onerous, operose, overbearing, overburdensome, overpowering, overruling, overwhelming, painful, peremptory, plaguey, punishing, racking, repressive, severe, somber, sticky, stifling, strained, strenuous, strict, stuffy, suffocating, sultry, superincumbent, suppressive, taxing, toilsome, tough, troublesome, trying, tyrannical, tyrannous, unbearable, uncomfortable, unendurable, unvented, unventilated, unwieldy, uphill, vexatious, wearing, wearisome, wearying, weighty, windless, wretched
 

 

 

 

COPYRIGHT © 2000-2003 WEBNOX CORP. HOME | ABOUT HYPERDICTIONARY