repressre‧press /rɪˈpres/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 
Word Origin Examples
Brenda repressed the urge to shout at him. I repressed a smile.2if someone represses upsetting feelings, memories etc, they do not allow themselves to express or think about them: He had long ago repressed the painful memories of his childhood.3to control a group of people by force → suppress, oppress: The police were widely criticized for their role in repressing the protest movement.
Word OriginWORD ORIGINrepress
Verb TableOrigin:
1300-1400 Latin past participle of reprimere ‘to press back’, from premere; ➔ PRESS2VERB TABLE
repress
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | repress |
| he, she, it | represses | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | repressed |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have repressed |
| he, she, it | has repressed | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had repressed |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will repress |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have repressed |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am repressing |
| he, she, it | is repressing | |
| you, we, they | are repressing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was repressing |
| you, we, they | were repressing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been repressing |
| he, she, it | has been repressing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been repressing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be repressing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been repressing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Denying or repressing sorrow often seems the easiest way out when confronted with death.
- For years the inhabitants of these islands have been repressed by the colonizers.
- Individuals who repress their sexual desires often suffer from psychological problems.
- It's a cruel and vicious regime that represses all opposition.
- Other nations condemned the ruler for repressing dissent.
- Either he had genuinely repressed what he knew or he refused to acknowledge it.
- Not all that is unconscious is repressed, although all that is repressed is unconscious.
- Some tendencies in human behaviour were encouraged, others repressed, and the results were both pleasant and unpleasant.
- Their professional pride is to provide information, not repress it.
Longman Language Activatorto completely control the people in a country► oppress
1to stop yourself from doing something you want to do: to use force to control large groups of people - use this especially about governments and people in authority: · Since colonial times, black people in South Africa have been oppressed by the white minority.· Marxists have studied the role of the family in oppressing women.
► oppressive oppressive laws or governments control people so tightly that they have very little freedom left: · The country is in the grip of an extremely oppressive regime.· New, oppressive laws were brought in to restrict the freedom of the press.
► keep somebody down to control people by not allowing them to use their natural abilities, intelligence, or energy to improve their situation: be kept down: · The population is kept down by poverty and fear of the secret police.keep somebody down: · In Marlowe's opinion, religion was invented in order to keep people down.
► repress to control people: · It's a cruel and vicious regime that represses all opposition.· For years the inhabitants of these islands have been repressed by the colonizers.
to hide your feelings► hide to deliberately not show what you are feeling or thinking: · He hides his real feelings under that big smile.· "That's OK," she said, trying to hide her disappointment.hide something from somebody: · I tried to hide my anxiety from the rest of the family by pretending that everything was normal.
► not show to not show in your face, voice, or movements what you really think or feel: · If she was surprised, she didn't show it.· My husband never shows emotion, so I never know if he's upset.
► conceal formal to hide your feelings or intentions especially when you have to make an effort to do this: · Kim could barely conceal her annoyance that I had arrived so late.· I yawned, not bothering to conceal my boredom.conceal something from somebody: · Hawkins was incapable of concealing how he felt from his close friends.
► disguise/mask to avoid showing your true feelings or intentions by pretending to feel something else: · Kate gave a cheerful smile, somehow managing to disguise her embarrassment.· "That's great!" she cried, unable to disguise her excitement.· He often masked his feelings of guilt by becoming angry at the people he had wronged.
► bottle up to not allow yourself to show your feelings, especially if you are angry, worried, or upset - use this especially when you think it would be better for someone to show their feelings so they can be dealt with: bottle something up: · It's not healthy to bottle all your feelings up like that.· The anger that he had bottled up inside him finally exploded.keep something bottled up: · She wanted to cry but she kept it bottled up inside.
► suppress formal to not allow yourself to feel or show strong feelings such as anger, sadness, or love, especially when you have difficulty controlling these feelings: · She had had to suppress her feelings for George throughout his long marriage to her friend.· Finally Glen could suppress his anger no longer and he lashed out at his mother.
► repress formal to deliberately stop yourself from having or expressing particular feelings, especially because you are ashamed of them, in a way that may have harmful mental effects: · Individuals who repress their sexual desires often suffer from psychological problems.· Denying or repressing sorrow often seems the easiest way out when confronted with death.
► put on a brave face/put up a brave front to pretend that you are happy or confident when in fact you are very upset about something but you do not want to show this: · When she lost her job she put on a brave face and said it didn't matter.· Most of his teammates put up a brave front when they talked about his departure.put on a brave face/put up a brave front on: · The speech was given to put a brave face on the president's declining popularity.
Brenda repressed the urge to shout at him. I repressed a smile.2if someone represses upsetting feelings, memories etc, they do not allow themselves to express or think about them: He had long ago repressed the painful memories of his childhood.3to control a group of people by force → suppress, oppress: The police were widely criticized for their role in repressing the protest movement.