deportation
Americannoun
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deportations
plural
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the lawful expulsion of an alien or other person from a country.
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an act or instance of deporting.
noun
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the act of expelling an alien from a country; expulsion
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the act of transporting someone from his country; banishment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of deportation
First recorded in 1585–95; from Latin dēportātiōn- (stem of dēportātiō ), equivalent to dēportāt(us) (past participle of dēportāre; see deport, -ate 1) + -iōn- noun suffix; see -ion
Explanation
Deportation is the act of throwing a foreigner out of a country, whether they are a resident or an intruder. If you've ever heard that someone was deported — expelled from a country — then you can probably guess that deportation is the act of that happening. Deportation can involve a resident of a country who is tossed out because of a crime. Often, deportation happens to people who enter a country illegally and are caught. A citizen of a country is usually safe from deportation. Deportation means something close to exile. When you see the word deportation, think “Goodbye.”
Vocabulary lists containing deportation
Human Geography - Middle School
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Human Geography - High School
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Prisoner B-3087
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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.
See Examples For:
The family intend to eventually take Mason's case to the European Court of Human Rights to try to challenge the deportation order.
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
He will remain in ICE custody pending his deportation.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
An immigration judge issued the British conservative commentator a deportation order on July 22 after he missed an immigration hearing, according to DHS.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
Padres minor league coach and Venezuelan native Oswaldo Pirela is home in Arizona after his release from ICE custody, but he still faces deportation proceedings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
He had gotten a Blauschein, a "blue sheet" or Gestapo-issued permit, added to his identification card, which we hoped would again exempt all of us from deportation.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
In the year to June, 5,962 foreign offenders were sent back to their home countries - the highest rate of deportations since 2017 and a 12% increase on the previous year.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
For about a decade, the Sacramento museum’s trustees have discussed creating a traveling exhibition on mass deportations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
The central controversy of Arendt’s career concerned her claims about Jewish leaders’ roles in compiling lists and administering deportations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
A similar lawsuit was filed earlier in June at the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to halt US deportations to Equatorial Guinea, which has also served as a way station for African deportees.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
Obinze looked at him for a moment, his open face, his simple view of the world; deportations happened every day and the living went on living.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
