From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrepressionre‧pres‧sion /rɪˈpreʃən/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable] 1 MPCONTROLwhen someone does not allow themselves to express feelings or desires which they are ashamed of, especially sexual ones – used when you think someone should express these feelings sexual repressionrepression of the repression of desire2 CONTROLcruel and severe control of a large group of people → suppression, oppressionrepression of brutal repression of members of the Communist party
Examples from the Corpus
repression• And even among the scrupulously neutral, there were those who spoke against the inequality and repression which inspired the fighting.• In spite of consistent repression, they produced five children.• Are we that nostalgic for repression?• The prison system became, by default, a major enforcer of repression.• She had not even attracted any positive repression, nor been significant enough to affect her husband's career.• During Stalin's repressions, countless people were sent to labor camps and starved to death.• Religious ideas about sin made sexual repression commonplace.• Indeed the repression of anger can be positively harmful.• But tensions continued as victims of the repression took revenge against the cadres who had persecuted them. 