oppression
op·pres·sion/əˈpɹɛʃən/noun
oppression is spelled O-P-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N, 3 syllables: op·pres·sion. The wrong spelling people search most is opression: about 350 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Oppression is a noun meaning “The exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner”. The plural of oppression is oppressions.
How many letters and syllables are in oppression?
| Letters | 10: O-P-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: op·pres·sion |
| In writing | 6.2 times per million words; the 9,735th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, opression, about 350 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell oppression?
Oppression is spelled O-P-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for oppression in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is oppression?
Oppression appears 6.2 times per million words in written English, the 9,735th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce oppression?
- US /əˈpɹɛʃən/
- /-ɛ-/ [-ɛ̞̈-]
- Australia /əˈpɹeʃən/
Oppression has 3 syllables, split op·pres·sion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-oppression.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with oppression?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as oppression from its last stressed vowel (/ɛʃən/):
- session
- profession
- aggression
- obsession
- progression
- compression
- suppression
- concession
- regression
- accession
- hessian
- digression
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of oppression
- oppressions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does oppression mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.
- 2
The act of oppressing, or the state of being oppressed.
Extreme freedom is followed by extreme oppression, said Plato.
- 3
A feeling of being oppressed. Special usage may include a sense of heaviness or obstruction in the body or mind; depression; dullness; lassitude.
Our oppression was lifted by the reappearance of the sun.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Oppression in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of oppressing, or the state of being oppressed:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | oppression |
| German | Unterdrückung |
| Portuguese | opressão |
| Spanish | opresión |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does oppression come from?
From Middle English oppression, from Old French oppression, from Latin oppressiō (“a pressing down, violence, oppression”), from opprimō; see oppress.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).