Definition of deportnext

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb deport contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of deport are banish, exile, and transport. While all these words mean "to remove by authority from a state or country," deport implies sending out of the country an alien who has illegally entered or whose presence is judged inimical to the public welfare.

illegal aliens will be deported

When might banish be a better fit than deport?

In some situations, the words banish and deport are roughly equivalent. However, banish implies compulsory removal from a country not necessarily one's own.

banished for seditious activities

When is it sensible to use exile instead of deport?

The synonyms exile and deport are sometimes interchangeable, but exile may imply compulsory removal or an enforced or voluntary absence from one's own country.

a writer who exiled himself for political reasons

When is transport a more appropriate choice than deport?

The meanings of transport and deport largely overlap; however, transport implies sending a convicted criminal to an overseas penal colony.

a convict who was transported to Australia

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of deport Cities and towns around the state with large immigrant populations have seen steep enrollment declines over the last year, says the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, as families have been deported or voluntarily returned to their home countries amidst heightened anxiety. State House News Service, Boston Herald, 15 Apr. 2026 Government figures on how many migrants have self-deported vary widely. Ivan Taylor, Miami Herald, 15 Apr. 2026 Born in Poland in 1928, Leipciger was deported to Auschwitz in 1943. Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 15 Apr. 2026 Being deported without due process of law to alien countries into foreign prisons. Jim Harrington, Mercury News, 14 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for deport
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deport
Verb
  • Gilbert estimated that about 100 boys from his high school class were either exiled or left to their own accord.
    Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 15 Apr. 2026
  • The last ruler of the empire, Bahadur Shah II (reigned 1837–57), was deposed by the British colonial powers and exiled to Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar), after his reluctant involvement in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
    Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • During her retrial in 2025, Read was acquitted of the most serious charges and found guilty of operating under the influence of liquor.
    Matt Schooley, CBS News, 17 Apr. 2026
  • She was retried the following summer, when the jury acquitted her on all charges except drunken driving.
    Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 16 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • One is a search for stability, driven by a horror of chaos and by memories of the mayhem that wrecked his childhood and banished him to the cave.
    Michael Sheridan, Vanity Fair, 8 Apr. 2026
  • While Vitello was banished to his office, the Giants lost a lot more than that.
    Andrew Baggarly, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • March 21 – April 19 Your words carry weight today.
    Tarot.com, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Apr. 2026
  • When Raphael died, a hundred torches were carried by painters at his funeral, and he was buried in the rotunda of the Pantheon.
    Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 20 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Rom-coms today are mostly relegated to streaming services, just another drop in a sea of on-demand content.
    CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 16 Apr. 2026
  • Dreams of ocean-view lots and Mediterranean-style villas were relegated to the round file.
    Eric DuVall, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • That divide is also showing up in how buyers behave on the ground, says Gerard Splendore, a real estate broker at Coldwell Banker Warburg in New York City.
    Mike Winters, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2026
  • The human eye expects weather to behave gradually, with soft edges and transitions.
    Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 16 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Laura Zapata is the latest houseguest to be evicted from Telemundo‘s La Casa de los Famosos, and her elimination sent shockwaves through the house.
    Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Resilience is seeking a declaratory judgment that Ramco cannot evict Resilience.
    Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, 14 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The one nation that could restrain his worst impulses — us — enables them instead.
    Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 17 Apr. 2026
  • The extension underscores how the fallout from the Iran war has boosted Moscow’s ability to profit from its energy exports, which had been restrained since the invasion of Ukraine.
    ABC News, ABC News, 17 Apr. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Deport.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deport. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.

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