empowerment
Britishnoun
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the giving or delegation of power or authority; authorization
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the giving of an ability; enablement or permission
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(in South Africa) a policy of providing special opportunities in employment, training, etc for Black people and others disadvantaged under apartheid
Explanation
Empowerment is the power granted by one person or institution to another. The government can grant empowerment to a department to effect change, or a person can grant empowerment to her lawyer to sign contracts on her behalf. In the US of the 1950s and 60s, there were a number of groups that sought empowerment against oppression. Some of these included the Civil Rights Movement, led by a number of powerful members including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During this period, César Chávez worked for the rights of Latinos and farm workers. There were a number of other empowerment movements as well, each working to gain power for an oppressed group.
Vocabulary lists containing empowerment
President Trump's Second State of the Union Address (2019)
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Peace Corps Lingo
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Where Wolves Don't Die
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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.
For York and Sacagawea, the expedition offered, briefly, agency and empowerment, only for these to disappear as they returned east.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026
The Liberty Academy, in Hull, has trialled a female empowerment programme with a group of girls who have been identified as benefitting from extra support.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
And at “Karolchella,” the first all-women mariachi ensemble in the United States demonstrated what female empowerment can look like, despite performing in a historically male-dominated music genre.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026
The “Nasty” video’s feminist empowerment pageant makes it stand out, as it begins with Jackson and Abdul squeezing past a crowd of catcallers to enter a movie theater.
From Salon • Apr. 11, 2026
Their children were deeply involved and inspired by their parents’ mission to encourage self-reliance and uphold a sense of empowerment for people of the African Diaspora.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
