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

On Tuesday, a barrage of intense storms moved over the region, destroying buildings, uprooting trees, and leaving over 100,000 utility customers in the dark across Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency. —Christopher Cann, USA TODAY, 18 July 2024

In the Houston area, Beryl toppled transmission lines, uprooted trees and snapped branches that crashed onto power lines. —CBS News, 10 July 2024

There was no rampant voter fraud in the 2020 election, and people such as Stange — encouraged by the Trump campaign to show up at polling places to uproot it — ended up seeing nothing but the normal, dull machinations of an orderly voting process. —Philip Bump, Washington Post, 17 June 2024

The same opponent dug deeper with the imaginative stretch of trying to make the arena analogous to the interstate construction that uprooted Black families in the Rondo neighborhood. —Joe Soucheray, Twin Cities, 15 June 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