oppressor
/əˈpresə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · /əˈpresər/ (ame, ipa) · /-sə(r)/ (ame, mw)
oppressor — noun
- oppressorsingular
- oppressorsplural
1. a person, government, or group with power who rules over others harshly and deni
a person, government, or group with power who rules over others harshly and denies them basic rights or freedoms — for example, a dictator who jails critics, or a colonial ruler who blocks local people from owning land.
Soraya wrote a long essay about how her grandmother had survived under a brutal oppressor.
common phrase: live/survive under an oppressor
The villagers gathered in the church to plan a peaceful protest against their oppressor.
collocation: protest/stand against an oppressor
History books often praise the leaders who freed their people from foreign oppressors.
Tomás argued that the new mining company had become the local oppressor of farming families.
In her speech, Shirin called the old regime an oppressor that had stolen thirty years from her generation.
- tyrant
stresses absolute and often cruel rule by one ruler
- despot
formal; a ruler who holds total power, usually unjustly
- persecutor
emphasises ongoing harassment of a specific group, often for beliefs
- autocrat
neutral-to-negative; a single ruler with absolute power, may or may not be cruel
文法句型
the oppressor of [group]
under an oppressor
用法筆記
Subject is usually a person or group holding political, military, or economic power; rarely used for personal-relationship cruelty (use 'bully' or 'abuser' instead). Frequently paired with the victim group via 'of' or 'against'.