Word of the Day:

August 1, 2025

dissociate

verb dih-SOH-shee-ayt

What it Means

To dissociate is to separate oneself from association or union with someone or something; in contexts relating to psychology, it has to do specifically with mentally detaching from one's physical or emotional experiences. In chemistry, dissociate means "to separate a chemical compound into its constituent parts especially through the application of heat or a solvent."

// The director has tried to dissociate herself from her earlier films.

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Dissociate in Context

"Last spring, Sunrise Brown launched their 'DIRE' campaign—which stands for 'dissociate' and 'reinvest'—calling on the University to dissociate from the fossil fuel industry and prioritize issues of environmental justice in its relationships with the Providence community." — Kate Butts and Sophia Wotman, The Brown Daily Herald (Providence, Rhode Island), 31 Oct. 2024

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Did You Know?

Dissociate and its synonymous sibling disassociate can each mean "to separate from association or union with another." Both trace back to the Latin verb sociare, meaning "to join," which comes in turn from socius, a noun meaning "companion." (Socius is associated with many English words, including social and society.) Dis- in this case means "do the opposite of," so both dissociate and disassociate indicate severing that which is united. Some argue that disassociate is illogical because it indicates separating and uniting simultaneously. Dissociate is also preferred by some because it is shorter (by a grand total of two letters) but both words are in current good use.