Repressible

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Capable of being restrained, suppressed, or kept under control through conscious effort or external force
2. Susceptible to being held back, subdued, or controlled by intentional actions or outside pressure
3. Able to be suppressed, limited, or maintained under control through deliberate measures or external influences

Etymology: Repressible is built from "repress" plus the suffix "-ible," and its history is largely that of its parts. "Repress" came into English from Latin through Old French, where the Latin "reprimere" meant to press back or hold down, from "re-" (back) and "premere" (to press). Its earliest English sense was physical, like pressing something down or back, and the notion of holding back feelings or behaviour developed from that image of pressure being pushed against. The suffix "-ible" has a longer and more tangled path. It descends from Latin "-bilis" and "-ibilis," which formed adjectives meaning "able to be" or "capable of being" something, and reached English through Old French "-ible." Attaching it to "repress" produces the sense of something that can be held back or put down by force, whether by deliberate effort or by outside pressure.

Synonyms: controllable, subduable, restrainable, quellable, curbable

Antonyms: uncontrollable, unrestrainable, unstoppable, irrepressible, unquenchable