Hypertext Webster Gateway: "oppressive"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Oppressive \Op*press"ive\, a. [Cf. F. oppressif.]
1. Unreasonably burdensome; unjustly severe, rigorous, or
harsh; as, oppressive taxes; oppressive exactions of
service; an oppressive game law. --Macaulay.
2. Using oppression; tyrannical; as, oppressive authority or
commands.
3. Heavy; overpowering; hard to be borne; as, oppressive
grief or woe.
To ease the soul of one oppressive weight. --Pope.
-- {Op*press"ive*ly}, adv. -- {Op*press"ive*ness}, n.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
oppressive
adj 1: weighing heavily on the senses or spirit; "the atmosphere
was oppressive"; "oppressive sorrows"
2: marked by unjust severity or arbitrary behavior; "the
oppressive government"; "oppressive laws"; "a tyrannical
parent"; "tyrannous disregard of human rights" [syn: {tyrannical},
{tyrannous}]
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