disempower

American

[dis-em-pau-er] / ˌdɪs ɛmˈpaʊ ər /

verb (used with object)

to deprive of influence, importance, etc..

Voters feel they have become disempowered by recent political events.

disempower British

/ ˌdɪsɪmˈpaʊə /

verb

(tr) to deprive (a person) of power or authority

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

disempowerment

noun

Etymology

Origin of disempower

First recorded in 1805–15; dis- ¹ + empower

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

disempower

In January, he published a paper that found that advanced AI tools can disempower users and distort their sense of reality.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026

Opposition parties highlighted cost of living issues, high unemployment - especially for young people - and fears that constitutional changes could disempower the disadvantaged.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2024

Survivors who supported the legislation have said a defamation lawsuit is often used as a retaliation tactic to disempower victims.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2023

More importantly, however, they disempower us as democratic citizens.

From Slate ● Jan. 28, 2022

If this were true, Columbus would have reached China, garlic would disempower magnets, and pigs could fly.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023