oppressive
The word “oppressive” has 3 syllables: op-pres-sive
It's pronounced as /əˈprɛsɪv/
What is synonym and antonym for oppressive?
In the thesaurus, “oppressive” has 57 synonyms and 27 antonyms.
Here are synonyms and antonyms for oppressive along with examples of usage in sentences.
Synonyms for oppressive
- agonizing
- austere
- bad
- biting
- bitter
- bleak
- brutal
- burdensome
- comfortless
- cruel
- crushing
- disagreeable
- discomforting
- excruciating
- forbidding
- grievous
- grim
- grinding
- hard
- hardhanded
- harrowing
- harsh
- heartbreaking
- heartrending
- heavy
- hostile
- inclement
- inhospitable
- inhuman
- insufferable
- insupportable
- intemperate
- intolerable
- murderous
- onerous
- overwhelming
- painful
- rigorous
- rough
- rugged
- searing
- severe
- spartan
- stiff
- strict
- stringent
- tortuous
- tough
- trying
- unbearable
- uncomfortable
- unendurable
- unfriendly
- unpleasant
- wearing
- wild
- wretched
Antonyms for oppressive
- agreeable
- balmy
- bearable
- calm
- clement
- comfortable
- cozy
- easy
- endurable
- friendly
- genial
- gentle
- hospitable
- light
- luxurious
- mild
- moderate
- painless
- peaceful
- pleasant
- relaxing
- reposeful
- restful
- snug
- soft
- temperate
- tolerable
Meanings of oppressive
- adjective
- Burdensome or difficult to bear.
- Tyrannical or exercising unjust power.
- Weighing heavily on the spirit; intense, or overwhelming.
- Hot and humid of the weather.
Example Sentences
- The new laws were widely criticized as oppressive.
- They fled the country to escape its oppressive regime.
- The heat in the crowded room felt almost oppressive.
- His leadership style soon became harsh and oppressive.
- Living under such oppressive conditions drained everyone’s hope.
On this page you'll find 84 synonyms, antonyms, or another words to oppressive, such as: agonizing, agreeable, austere, bad, balmy, bearable, biting.
Make sure to choose synonyms and antonyms that are appropriate for the context of the sentence.
Related Words
backbreaking
- Augean
- abstract
- abstruse
- annoying
- arduous
- bothersome
- bruising
- brutal
- burdensome
- challenging
- complex
- complicated
- cruel
- demanding
- difficult
- distressing
- effortful
- elusive
- exacting
- exhausting
- formidable
- grievous
- grim
- grueling
- gruelling
- hairy
- hard
- heavy
- hellacious
- herculean
- inhuman
- insoluble
- intricate
- involved
- irksome
- killer
- knotty
- labored
- laborious
- moiling
- murderous
- onerous
- opaque
- oppressive
- painful
- pick-and-shovel
- problematic
- problematical
- punishing
- recondite
- rigorous
- rough
- rugged
- serious
- severe
- spiny
- stiff
- strenuous
- stressful
- strict
- stringent
- stubborn
- sweaty
- tall
- taxing
- testing
- thorny
- ticklish
- tight
- toilsome
- tough
- tricky
- troublesome
- trying
- uphill
- vexatious
- wearisome
damp
- abate
- alleviate
- awash
- bathe
- bathed
- bedew
- benumb
- blunt
- burn out
- castrate
- cauterize
- clamminess
- clammy
- close
- cloudy
- dampen
- dampish
- dampness
- dank
- dankness
- daunt
- deaden
- debilitate
- decrease
- dehydrate
- demoralize
- desiccate
- devitalize
- dewy
- diminish
- dip
- discourage
- dishearten
- dispirit
- do in
- douse
- doused
- dowse
- dowsed
- drain
- drench
- drenched
- dripping
- drippy
- drizzly
- dull
- dunk
- dwindle
- ease
- enervate
- enfeeble
- exhaust
- fatigue
- flush
- geld
- heavy
- humid
- humidify
- humidity
- immerge
- immerse
- impregnate
- irrigate
- irriguous
- lave
- lessen
- lighten
- lobotomize
- lower
- misty
- moderate
- moist
- moisten
- moistness
- moisture
- muffle
- mugginess
- muggy
- mute
- numb
- oozy
- oppressive
- petrify
- recede
- reduce
- refresh
- rehydrate
- remoisten
- rinse
- sap
- saturate
- saturated
- semimoist
- semitropic
- semitropical
- sluice
- smothering
- soak
- soaked
- soaking
- sodden
- soddenness
- sogginess
- soggy
- sopping
- soppy
- souse
- soused
- steam bath
- steamy
- steep
- steeped
- stickiness
- sticky
- stifling
- stuffiness
- stuffy
- subdue
- subhumid
- subside
- subtropic
- subtropical
- suffocating
- sultriness
- sultry
- summerlike
- summery
- sweltering
- torrid
- tropic
- tropical
- undermine
- vaporous
- wane
- wash
- washed
- water
- water-soaked
- watered
- waterlogged
- watery
- weaken
- wear
- wear out
- wet
- wetness
- wettish
dampening
- abating
- alleviating
- bathing
- bedewing
- benumbing
- black
- bleak
- blunting
- burning out
- castrating
- cauterizing
- damping
- daunting
- deadening
- debilitating
- decreasing
- dehydrating
- demoralizing
- depressing
- depressive
- desiccating
- deterring
- devitalizing
- diminishing
- dipping
- disadvantageous
- disappointing
- discouraging
- disheartening
- dismal
- dismaying
- dispiriting
- dissuading
- doing in
- dousing
- dowsing
- draining
- dreary
- drenching
- dulling
- dunking
- dwindling
- easing
- enervating
- enfeebling
- exhausting
- fatiguing
- flushing
- gelding
- gloomy
- hindering
- humidifying
- immerging
- immersing
- impregnating
- inopportune
- irrigating
- laving
- lessening
- lightening
- lobotomizing
- lowering
- moderating
- moistening
- muffling
- muting
- numbing
- off-putting
- oppressive
- petrifying
- receding
- reducing
- refreshing
- rehydrating
- remoistening
- repressing
- rinsing
- sapping
- saturating
- sluicing
- soaking
- sousing
- steeping
- subduing
- subsiding
- undermining
- unfavorable
- unpropitious
- waning
- washing
- watering
- weakening
- wearing
- wearing out
- wetting
dampish
- awash
- bathed
- clammy
- close
- damp
- dank
- dewy
- doused
- dowsed
- drenched
- dripping
- drippy
- drizzly
- humid
- irriguous
- misty
- moist
- mucky
- muggy
- not dry
- oozy
- oppressive
- rainy
- saturate
- saturated
- semimoist
- soaked
- soaking
- sodden
- soggy
- sopping
- soppy
- soused
- steeped
- sticky
- stuffy
- sultry
- summery
- sweltering
- teary
- torrid
- tropical
- washed
- water-soaked
- watered
- waterlogged
- watery
- wettish
jackbooted
- absolute
- all-powerful
- almighty
- antidemocratic
- antirepublican
- arbitrary
- authoritarian
- autocratic
- autocratical
- autonomous
- czarist
- despotic
- dictatorial
- domineering
- high-handed
- imperious
- magisterial
- masterful
- monocratic
- omnipotent
- oppressive
- self-governing
- self-ruling
- sovereign
- sovran
- totalitarian
- tsarist
- tyrannic
- tyrannical
- tyrannous
- tzarist
- unconditional
- unlimited