OPPRESSIVE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Oppressive

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/əprˈɛsɪv/ Listen

adjective

Oppressive adj.

Unreasonably burdensome; unjustly severe, rigorous, or harsh; as, oppressive taxes; oppressive exactions of service; an oppressive game law.

Using oppression; tyrannical; as, oppressive authority or commands.

Heavy; overpowering; hard to be borne; creating a sense of heavy burden; as, oppressive grief or woe; oppressive heat or humidity; an oppressive workload. "To ease the soul of one oppressive weight."

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Etymology of 'Oppressive'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Oppressive" Quotes from Famous Books

... narration had their weight. He suffered much from a morbid acuteness of the senses. The most insipid food was alone endurable; he could wear only garments of certain texture; the odors of all flowers were oppressive; his eyes were tortured by even a faint light; and there were but peculiar sounds, and these from stringed instruments, which did not inspire ...

— Short-Stories • Various

... way on, with the growth completely hiding him from his companion, while the heat seemed to be more and more oppressive. It was a dank stewing heat, very different to the scorching of the sun out in the more open parts, and both were longing to get to a spot where they could breathe more freely, when Mark, who was about six yards ahead, ...

— Mother Carey's Chicken - Her Voyage to the Unknown Isle • George Manville Fenn

... in the Church militant, I have sometimes apprehended it might be within the compass of our present Particular and Monthly Meetings; but should this be ordered otherwise in best wisdom, I trust I shall be relieved from the oppressive feeling, and in a short time see my way clear. On the other hand, if this change takes place, we have a probability of a comfortable living, and of being relieved from the extreme anxiety attendant on trade, when the whole responsibility ...

— Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel • John Yeardley

... sadness in the sound. It made my tears flow. How I longed to speak to them! I was eager to look on their faces; but there was no hole, no crack, through which I could peep. This continued darkness was oppressive. It seemed horrible to sit or lie in a cramped position day after day, without one gleam of light. Yet I would have chosen this, rather than my lot as a slave, though white people considered it an easy one; and ...

— Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Written by Herself • Harriet Jacobs (AKA Linda Brent)

... to carry with them an air of repose while awake. To rouse them from mid-day slumbers we would call loudly as we passed a cabin in the woods, and after considerable delay a man would appear at the door, rubbing his eyes as though the genial sunlight was oppressive to his vision. It was indeed a quiet, restful region, this ...

— Voyage of The Paper Canoe • N. H. Bishop

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