uproot

verb

up·​root (ˌ)əp-ˈrüt  -ˈru̇t 

uprooted; uprooting; uproots

transitive verb

1

: to remove as if by pulling up

2

: to pull up by the roots

3

: to displace from a country or traditional habitat

uprootedness noun

uprooter noun

Synonyms

• corkscrew
• extract
• prize
• pry
• pull
• root (out)
• tear (out)
• wrest
• wring
• yank

Choose the Right Synonym for uproot

exterminate, extirpate, eradicate, uproot mean to effect the destruction or abolition of something.

exterminate implies complete and immediate extinction by killing off all individuals.

exterminate cockroaches

extirpate implies extinction of a race, family, species, or sometimes an idea or doctrine by destruction or removal of its means of propagation.

many species have been extirpated from the area

eradicate implies the driving out or elimination of something that has established itself.

a campaign to eradicate illiteracy

uproot implies a forcible or violent removal and stresses displacement or dislodgment rather than immediate destruction.

the war uprooted thousands

Examples of uproot in a Sentence

Many trees were uprooted by the storm.

Will we ever be able to uproot racial prejudice?

Taking the job would mean uprooting my family.

Recent Examples on the Web

What most alarms Washington are the Palestinian civilians, many of whom have already been displaced multiple times and are wary of being uprooted again. —Missy Ryan, Washington Post, 2 Apr. 2024

Powerful storms had already uprooted trees in Kentucky by midday on Tuesday. —Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 2 Apr. 2024

After all, many people uproot their lives and make somewhere else their home all the time. —Fidel Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024

But director Celine Song’s quietly devastating tale of two Korean childhood friends (Greta Lee and Teo Yoo) with an unshakable bond goes right for the gut, uprooting complicated feelings about love, fate and the road not taken. —Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 8 Mar. 2024

The subdiscipline basically denotes the study of everything that can be uprooted with a shovel. —Maddie Bender, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Mar. 2024

Tornado damage often has a chaotic appearance, according to NWS, whereas straight-line winds usually uproot trees in the same direction. —John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 15 Mar. 2024

Anti-prison abolitionists believe that the justice system is inherently racist and should be uprooted. —Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 27 Feb. 2024

Officials say that the back-to-back storms, years of beach erosion, high tides and saturated soils eventually caused the trees to be uprooted. —Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 21 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1620, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

uproot

verb

up·​root (ˌ)ə-ˈprüt  -ˈpru̇t 

: to remove by or as if by pulling up by the roots

uproot a vine

families uprooted by war