repression
repression Lexical Profile
repression Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The action of subduing someone or something by force, authority, or institutional control, or the state of being kept down in this way.
"Years of political repression prompted many artists and intellectuals to seek asylum abroad."
The restraint, prevention, or inhibition of a feeling, quality, or natural impulse.
"The novel explores the emotional repression prevalent in strict Victorian society."
In psychoanalytic theory, the unconscious defense mechanism whereby distressing thoughts, memories, or desires are excluded from conscious awareness.
"Freud viewed the repression of painful childhood memories as a primary source of adult neurosis."
Word Nuance & Usage
In psychology, 'repression' refers to the unconscious blocking of distressing thoughts or memories, whereas 'suppression' refers to the conscious, deliberate effort to push unwanted thoughts out of awareness.
• Rhymes for repression
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Old French repression or directly from Late Latin repressio, a noun of action from the past participle stem of Latin reprimere ('to press back, check, or restrain'), from re- ('back') and premere ('to press').