repression

Plural: repressions

Noun

• a state of forcible subjugation
  • "the long repression of Christian sects"
• (psychiatry) the classical defense mechanism that protects you from impulses or ideas that would cause anxiety by preventing them from becoming conscious
• the act of repressing; control by holding down
  • "his goal was the repression of insolence"
• The act of repressing; state of being repressed.
• The involuntary rejection from consciousness of painful or disagreeable ideas, memories, feelings, or impulses.

Examples

• History shows that when governments fear the truth and increase repression, their days are limited.

Related Words

repress, suppression