disinvest

verb

dis·​in·​vest (ˌ)dis-in-ˈvest 

disinvested; disinvesting; disinvests

intransitive verb

: to reduce or eliminate capital investment (as in an industry or area)

Examples of disinvest in a Sentence

Several companies have disinvested from the country to protest its human rights policies.

Recent Examples on the Web

Formerly redlined neighborhoods remain among the most disinvested in America. —Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 31 Aug. 2025

District 3 has been disinvested for far too long. —Charlotte Observer, 13 Aug. 2025

But its decline was hastened by the hundreds of local organizations that protested coal projects, filed lawsuits against regulators and pushed financial institutions to disinvest from the sector. —Kevin A. Young, The Conversation, 18 Mar. 2025

To dig the country out of dire financial straits, Cameron’s government decided to disinvest in social services like the national health service (NHS), education, and transit, particularly the railways. —Ellen Ioanes, Vox, 5 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1945, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for disinvest

• acquiesced
• coalesced
• dispossessed
• manifest
• overdressed
• overstressed
• prepossessed
• reassessed
• reinvest
• repossessed
• unaddressed
• uncompressed

Legal Definition

disinvest

intransitive verb

dis·​in·​vest ˌdis-ᵊn-ˈvest 

1

: to reduce or eliminate capital investment (as in an industry or area)

2

: to give up an investment

insiders force the noncontrolling shareholders to…disinvest

—R. C. Clark

transitive verb

: to cause to give up an investment

no one is being…disinvested or cashed out

—R. C. Clark