dispossess

verb

dis·​pos·​sess ˌdis-pə-ˈzes 

 also  -ˈses

dispossessed; dispossessing; dispossesses

transitive verb

: to put out of possession or occupancy

dispossessed the nobles of their land

dispossession

ˌdis-pə-ˈze-shən 

 also  -ˈse-

noun

dispossessor

ˌdis-pə-ˈze-sər 

 also  -ˈse-

noun

Synonyms

• divest
• expropriate
• oust

Examples of dispossess in a Sentence

The land was settled by dispossessing the native people who lived here.

opponents of gentrification claim that the process unfairly dispossesses poorer residents of their long-established homes

Recent Examples on the Web

The Eastern Band’s connection to this place is deep — unusually so, in a country where so many Native communities have been dispossessed. —Jacey Fortin Mike Belleme, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2023

The site is sacred to Australia’s Aboriginal people, who have lived on the continent for at least fifty thousand years, but have been dispossessed and discriminated against since European colonization began, in the eighteenth century. —Naaman Zhou, The New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2023

The experience of being completely dispossessed of your home is humiliating. —Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Sep. 2023

In her investigation for ProPublica and The New Yorker, Lizzie Presser explains the twisted legal path that landed the brothers in jail and dispossesses thousands of Black families across the country. —Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Sep. 2023

This reaffirmed what Native people believed all along—that these schools were a tool created to commit cultural genocide, dispossess Native peoples of their land, and tear Native families apart. —As Told To Monique Wilson, Glamour, 21 Aug. 2023

Black Americans are far from being uniformly poor and dispossessed, and preferences in admission to elite colleges disproportionately benefit black Americans from wealthier backgrounds compared with those who grew up in poverty. —The Editors, National Review, 29 June 2023

By contrast, the Anarresti have been dispossessed by Urras—and by themselves. —Alan Jacobs, Harper's Magazine, 9 Nov. 2022

Vela’s faint effort to dispossess León of the ball was in vain. —Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle French despossesser, from des- dis- + possesser to possess

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

dispossess

verb

dis·​pos·​sess ˌdis-pə-ˈzes 

: to take away the possession of or the right to occupy land or houses

dispossession

-ˈzesh-ən 

noun

Legal Definition

dispossess

transitive verb

dis·​pos·​sess ˌdis-pə-ˈzes 

: to put out of possession or occupancy compare evict

dispossession

-ˈze-shən 

noun

dispossessor

-ˈze-sər 

noun