oppressed

Everyday

1. Treated in a cruel and unfair way by people with power, and not given freedom or rights. tree →
2. (feeling) Weighed down by worry or sadness, as in "oppressed by the heat". tree →
3. (the oppressed) People who are treated unfairly by those in power. tree →

In the lessons

Used in history, citizenship and religious education: enslaved people, people under dictators and groups denied rights were oppressed; movements for civil rights fought against it. In the Bible, the Israelites in Egypt were oppressed and God led them out (the Exodus). Phrases: "the oppressed", "oppressed people", "feel oppressed".

Examples

• The workers were oppressed by the cruel factory owner. tree →
• Martin Luther King Jr. spoke up for oppressed people. tree →
• In the Bible, the Israelites were oppressed in Egypt. tree →
• Many charities help the poor and the oppressed. tree →
• She felt oppressed by the heavy, hot air. tree →
• The king oppressed his people with high taxes. tree →
• In the story, the oppressed villagers rose up against the tyrant. tree →
• A PIGEON, oppressed by excessive thirst, saw a goblet of water painted on a signboard. tree →

Note

Spelling: double p and double s. Noun "oppression"; adjective "oppressive" (cruel and unfair; or uncomfortably hot: "oppressive heat"); person who does it: "oppressor". Not the same as "depressed" (very sad).

In Jewish tradition

Treated cruelly and unfairly by those with power, or crushed by trouble. In the Tanakh it names Israel under foreign kings like Hazael, and a person who cries to God in distress, as in "O LORD, I am oppressed, be Thou my surety."

Interpretation. Tradition reads God as the helper of the oppressed, who hears them as He heard Israel in Egypt. The Torah's warnings about being "only oppressed and crushed" are read as the result of leaving the covenant.

Examples

• The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed away: (Torah DEU.28.33, JPS 1917) tree →
• If any one sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and deal falsely with his neighbour in a matter of deposit, or of pledge, or of robbery, or have oppressed his neighbour; (Torah LEV.6.2, JPS 1917) tree →
• And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not make thy ways prosperous; and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed alway, and there shall be none to save thee. (Torah DEU.28.29, JPS 1917) tree →
• O LORD, I am oppressed, be Thou my surety. (Prophets ISA.38.14, JPS 1917) tree →
• And Asa oppressed some of the people the same time. (Writings 2CH.16.10, JPS 1917) tree →
• And Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. (Prophets 2KI.13.22, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Spelling: double p and double s. Noun "oppression"; adjective "oppressive" (cruel and unfair; or uncomfortably hot: "oppressive heat"); person who does it: "oppressor". Not the same as "depressed" (very sad).