decenter

verb

de·​cen·​ter (ˌ)dē-ˈsen-tər How to pronounce decenter (audio)
-ˈse-nər
decentered; decentering; decenters

transitive verb

: to cause to lose or shift from an established center or focus
especially : to disconnect from practical or theoretical assumptions of origin, priority, or essence
decenter Western conceptions of history Ernest Larsen

Examples of decenter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web To design better technology, then, is to decenter it. Rida Qadri, Wired, 20 Feb. 2022 Clearly the effort to decenter white men hasn’t gone great. Helen Shaw, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2021 Season 2 will decenter Darby and focus instead on William Jackson Harper's character Marcus Watkins, according to Deadline. Iris Goldsztajn, Marie Claire, 25 Oct. 2021 To lean back and push forward is to decenter yourself and to center the marginalized. Ashlee Fowlkes, Forbes, 17 Sep. 2021 The point is to decenter and recontextualize yourself. New York Times, 1 June 2021 After eight seasons and multiple spinoffs, the series has found a way to not only decenter the idea of American exceptionalism but interrogate it. Ashley Ray-Harris, Vulture, 5 Apr. 2021 But more quietly and more innovatively, the show began to decenter its composition, to drift away from BoJack and imagine in greater detail the lives of those around him: Diane, Todd, and Princess Carolyn. Adam Thirlwell, The New York Review of Books, 3 Aug. 2020 Montage, a staple of cartooning, is decentering by design. Sarah Boxer, The New York Review of Books, 7 Mar. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'decenter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1870, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of decenter was in 1870

Dictionary Entries Near decenter

Cite this Entry

“Decenter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decenter. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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