All 20 Uses of
oppress
in
War and Peace
- He had the air of a man oppressed by business, weary and suffering, who yet would not, for pity's sake, leave this helpless youth who, after all, was the son of his old friend and the possessor of such enormous wealth, to the caprice of fate and the designs of rogues.†
Chpt 3
- "Yes, I feel a kind of oppression," she said in reply to the prince's question as to how she felt.†
Chpt 3
- Every position was awkward and uncomfortable, and her burden oppressed her now more than ever because Anatole's presence had vividly recalled to her the time when she was not like that and when everything was light and gay.†
Chpt 3
- He imagined to himself vicious and unfortunate people whom he would assist by word and deed, imagined oppressors whose victims he would rescue.†
Chpt 5 *
- He did not know that the priest who met him with the cross oppressed the peasants by his exactions, and that the pupils' parents wept at having to let him take their children and secured their release by heavy payments.†
Chpt 5
- Since the intimacy of his wife with the royal prince, Pierre had unexpectedly been made a gentleman of the bedchamber, and from that time he had begun to feel oppressed and ashamed in court society, and dark thoughts of the vanity of all things human came to him oftener than before.†
Chpt 6
- Something in him had suddenly changed; there was no longer the former poetic and mystic charm of desire, but there was pity for her feminine and childish weakness, fear at her devotion and trustfulness, and an oppressive yet joyful sense of the duty that now bound him to her forever.†
Chpt 6
- This pleased her, yet his presence made her feel constrained and oppressed.†
Chpt 8
- Pierre now recognized in his friend a need with which he was only too familiar, to get excited and to have arguments about extraneous matters in order to stifle thoughts that were too oppressive and too intimate.†
Chpt 8
- But the happy day came, and on that memorable Sunday, when, dressed in white muslin, she returned home after communion, for the first time for many months she felt calm and not oppressed by the thought of the life that lay before her.†
Chpt 9
- Tears, the cause of which she herself did not understand, made Natasha's breast heave, and a joyous but oppressive feeling agitated her.†
Chpt 9
- That couch was dreadful to him, probably because of the oppressive thoughts he had had when lying there.†
Chpt 10
- The silence began to oppress the princess and she tried to catch someone's eye.†
Chpt 10
- It was something white by the door—the statue of a sphinx, which also oppressed him.†
Chpt 11
- "Oh, how oppressive this continual delirium is," thought Prince Andrew, trying to drive that face from his imagination.†
Chpt 11
- The soft whispering voice continued its rhythmic murmur, something oppressed him and stretched out, and the strange face was before him.†
Chpt 11
- The bustle and terror of the Rostovs' last days in Moscow stifled the gloomy thoughts that oppressed Sonya.†
Chpt 12
- But she felt oppressed by the fact that the mood of everyone around her was so far from what was in her own heart.†
Chpt 12
- But the pain was immediately followed by a feeling of release from the oppressive constraint that had prevented her taking part in life.†
Chpt 15
- But in Europe a reaction occurred and the sovereigns once again all began to oppress their subjects.†
Chpt 15
Definition:
-
(oppress as in: oppressive government) to dominate harshly and unfairly; or to make sufferThe meaning of oppress depends upon its context. For example:
- "The authorities oppress political activists," or "The new nation oppressed Native Americans." -- to dominate harshly and unfairly
- "She is oppressed by excessive debt." - made to suffer