oppression

The action of oppressing; arbitrary and cruel exercise of power.

The state of being oppressed.

A feeling of being weighed down in mind or body.

A pressing down; pressure; burden.

A feeling of weight; that state in which one experiences a sensation of weight or pressure; hence, lassitude; dullness of spirits; depression.

The act of oppressing or of imposing unreasonable or unjust burdens; the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, harsh, or severe manner; the imposition of severe or cruel measures or exactions; tyrannical or cruel exercise of power.

An oppressed state or condition; the state of those who are overburdened or oppressed, or treated with unjustness or undue severity, by persons in authority or power.

Whatever oppresses or causes hardship; an unjust or unreasonable imposition, exaction, or measure; a hardship.

Ravishment; rape. Chaucer.