From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishoppressiveop‧pres‧sive /əˈpresɪv/ ●○○ adjective 1 CONTROLpowerful, cruel, and unfair an oppressive military regime2 HOTweather that is oppressive is unpleasantly hot with no movement of air the oppressive heat of the afternoon3 DIFFICULTa situation that is oppressive makes you unhappy, worried, or uncomfortable an oppressive silence an oppressive atmosphere —oppressively adverb
Examples from the Corpus
oppressive• Boundaries are most rigid, their outline obvious and often oppressive.• His principles were narrow and his realization of them oppressive.• As the sun climbed higher in the sky, the heat grew gradually more oppressive.• Summers in Houston can be oppressive.• The silence in the meeting was becoming oppressive.• The thesis is to show the tragic consequences of parents who are oppressive and inflexible in their relationship with their children.• Karlin relates the oppressive anti-Semitism his forebears endured in a vague, almost elliptical style with dips into the stream of consciousness.• He could think of nothing but the oppressive bulk in the seat next to him.• an oppressive dictatorship• They had all the evidence that a less oppressive environment was not effective.• A poor, uneducated people do not have the will power or knowledge to challenge an oppressive government.• Despite the oppressive heat, more than 1,000 people came to the celebration.• New, oppressive laws were brought in to restrict the freedom of the press.• Identification with the community is even consistent with hostility to its laws, if those are thought to be oppressive or unfair.• The country is in the grip of an extremely oppressive regime.• the oppressive rule of Ceaucescu in Romaniaoppressive heat• This shop is surely an outpost of hell, with its oppressive heat and dense clouds of smoke.• The oppressive heat and humidity make that smell stronger.• An opposite movement occurs with the elements of oppressive heat and smell on that same momentous fourth floor.• My first impression was of oppressive heat, but then I have spent my life mainly on the cool side of temperate. 