oppress

adj. having excessive or unfair burdens imposed.
Syn. -- downtrodden, persecuted. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n. [ F., fr. L. oppressio. ] 1. The act of oppressing, or state of being oppressed. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which oppresses; a hardship or injustice; cruelty; severity; tyranny. “The multitude of oppressions.” Job xxxv. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sense of heaviness or obstruction in the body or mind; depression; dullness; lassitude; as, an oppression of spirits; an oppression of the lungs. [ 1913 Webster ]

There gentle Sleep
First found me, and with soft oppression seized
My drowsed sense. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Ravishment; rape. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. oppressif. ] 1. Unreasonably burdensome; unjustly severe, rigorous, or harsh; as, oppressive taxes; oppressive exactions of service; an oppressive game law. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Using oppression; tyrannical; as, oppressive authority or commands. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Heavy; overpowering; hard to be borne; creating a sense of heavy burden; as, oppressive grief or woe; oppressive heat or humidity; an oppressive workload. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

To ease the soul of one oppressive weight. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Op*press"ive*ly, adv. -- Op*press"ive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] One who oppresses; one who imposes unjust burdens on others; one who harasses others with unjust laws or unreasonable severity. [ 1913 Webster ]

The orphan pines while the oppressor feeds. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To relieve the oppressed and to punish the oppressor. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]