Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb repress
4 senses of repress
Sense 1
repress, quash, keep down, subdue, subjugate, reduce -- (put down by force or intimidation; "The government quashes any attempt of an uprising"; "China keeps down her dissidents very efficiently"; "The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land")
=> oppress, suppress, crush -- (come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority; "The government oppresses political activists")
Sense 2
smother, stifle, strangle, muffle, repress -- (conceal or hide; "smother a yawn"; "muffle one's anger"; "strangle a yawn")
=> suppress, stamp down, inhibit, subdue, conquer, curb -- (to put down by force or authority; "suppress a nascent uprising"; "stamp down on littering"; "conquer one's desires")
Sense 3
suppress, repress -- (put out of one's consciousness)
=> forget, bury -- (dismiss from the mind; stop remembering; "I tried to bury these unpleasant memories")
Sense 4
repress -- (block the action of)
=> change -- (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night")
Antonyms of adj repressing
1 sense of repressing
Sense 1
inhibitory, repressive, repressing -- (restrictive of action; "a repressive regime"; "an overly strict and inhibiting discipline")
INDIRECT (VIA restrictive) -> unrestrictive -- (not tending to restrict)
Similarity of adj repressing
1 sense of repressing
Sense 1
inhibitory, repressive, repressing -- (restrictive of action; "a repressive regime"; "an overly strict and inhibiting discipline")
=> restrictive (vs. unrestrictive) -- (serving to restrict; "teenagers eager to escape restrictive home environments")