oppressivelyadv.
/əˈprɛsᵻvli/, U.S. /əˈprɛsᵻvli/ In an oppressive manner.
1. With cruel or unjust exercise of authority or power; in a manner involving exploitation or victimization; tyrannically.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > oppression > [adverb]
tyrantlyc1470
tyrannicly1539
tyrannously?1542
slavely1553
tyrannically1560
tyranniously1608
slavishly1621
oppressively1650
grindingly1828
inquisitorially1830
1650 W. Wickins Plea for Ministry 9 By propounding his own example he would take them from the abuse of that power, that they should not be oppressively burthensome.
1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 40 Her taxes are more injudiciously and more oppressively imposed.
1832 G. C. Lewis Remarks Use & Abuse Polit. Terms viii. 68 The rulers govern oppressively.
1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 10 Mar. 464/2 I should be very slow to interfere oppressively with Dark Jack.
1975 Business Week (Nexis) 23 June (Economics section) 86 Planning under capitalism will simply serve to control the working classes more oppressively.
1991 Screen (BNC) Pessimism about the possibility of a fulfilled sexual relationship within an oppressively homophobic culture.
2002 Independent on Sunday (Nexis) 10 Nov. (Features section) Young Charles also used his power oppressively, reportedly bullying his wife.
2. So as to oppress or weigh on the mind, feelings, or senses; depressingly; overpoweringly; uncomfortably.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > [adverb] > oppressively
heavilyc1320
oppressingly1629
oppressively1773
compressively1834
the mind > emotion > suffering > state of being harassed > condition of being oppressed > [adverb]
oppressively1773
1773 H. Mackenzie Man of World II. xviii. 175 This burden, which to any man would have been oppressively heavy..was intolerable to me, whose flesh was yet raw from the lashes I had received.
1792 T. Holcroft Anna St. Ives I. xiii. 161 Oh! How poorly do I paint what so oppressively I feel!
1813 J. Austen Pride & Prejudice III. viii. 145 Mrs. Bennet..again took her seat at the head of her table, and in spirits oppressively high. View more context for this quotation
1859 J. S. Mill On Liberty 157 Opinions similar..to these..prevail widely among the artizan class, and weigh oppressively on those who are amenable to the opinion chiefly of that class.
1894 Outing 24 351/1 Although..we were at an altitude of fully ten thousand feet..it was oppressively hot.
1918 W. Cather My Ántonia iii. i. 294 The streets of Lincoln..were almost as quiet and oppressively domestic as those of Black Hawk.
1950 S. J. Perelman Swiss Family Perelman i. 7 I explained..that Siam was a vast malarial marsh, oppressively hot and crowded with underprivileged folk.
1988 R. Fraser Charlotte Brontë (1989) vi. 118 Charlotte went to stay with Ellen and also visited Lascelles Hall, home of the oppressively grand Walker family.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.1650