Definition

1. Verb:

   • To suppress, to repress, to inhibit: To consciously or unconsciously hold back, restrain, or prevent something (such as an emotion, desire, impulse, or physiological process) from being expressed or occurring.
   • To oppress (rare, formal): To keep someone in subjugation, especially by the unjust exercise of authority.

2. Noun (Psychology, Biology):

   • Inhibition: The process or state of being restrained or blocked, especially a neural process that suppresses or diminishes a reflex or activity.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • Anh ấy luôn cố gắng ức chế cơn giận của mình. (He always tries to suppress his anger.)
  • Thuốc này có tác dụng ức chế sự phát triển của vi khuẩn. (This medicine works to inhibit the growth of bacteria.)
  • Cảm thấy bị ức chế trong môi trường làm việc quá nghiêm ngặt. (To feel repressed in an overly strict work environment.)

• Noun:

  • Sự ức chế thần kinh là một quá trình sinh lý quan trọng. (Neural inhibition is an important physiological process.)
  • Cô ấy đang trải qua một giai đoạn ức chế cảm xúc. (She is going through a period of emotional inhibition.)

Advanced Usage

• "ức chế tâm lý": psychological repression/inhibition.
  • Những tổn thương thời thơ ấu có thể dẫn đến ức chế tâm lý. (Childhood trauma can lead to psychological repression.)
• "chất ức chế": inhibitor (e.g., enzyme inhibitor, corrosion inhibitor).
  • Các chất ức chế men chuyển được dùng để điều trị cao huyết áp. (ACE inhibitors are used to treat high blood pressure.)
• "sự ức chế xã hội": social oppression/repression.
  • Cuốn sách nói về sự ức chế xã hội đối với phụ nữ. (The book discusses the social oppression of women.)

Variants and Related Words

• Ức chế cảm xúc (Emotional suppression/repression): The act of consciously or unconsciously holding back emotions.
• Tự ức chế (Self-restraint, self-inhibition): The ability to control one's own impulses or actions.
• Ức chế thần kinh (Neural inhibition): The process by which nervous activity is suppressed.

Synonyms

• Kìm nén (to hold back, to restrain): Often used for emotions.
• Đè nén (to press down, to oppress): Can imply a heavier, more forceful suppression.
• Kiềm chế (to control, to restrain): Emphasizes self-control.
• Ngăn chặn (to prevent, to stop): More general, focusing on stopping an action or process.

Related Phrases / Idioms

• Bị ức chế: To feel suppressed/repressed/frustrated.
  • Nhân viên bị ức chế vì áp lực công việc quá lớn. (The employee feels frustrated because of excessive work pressure.)
• Sống trong ức chế: To live in a state of repression/oppression.
  • Người dân sống trong ức chế dưới chế độ độc tài. (The people lived in oppression under the dictatorship.)

verb

1. to restrict; to control, to suppress, to repress; to restrain