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Showing results for "deprived"
Synonyms

deprived

American  
[dih-prahyvd] / dɪˈpraɪvd /

adjective

  1. marked by deprivation; lacking the necessities of life, as adequate food and shelter.

    a deprived childhood.


deprived British  
/ dɪˈpraɪvd /

adjective

  1. lacking adequate food, shelter, education, etc

    deprived inner-city areas

"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

Etymology

Origin of deprived

First recorded in 1545–55; deprive + -ed 2

Explanation

Being deprived means lacking important things like food and water. For example, when warm clothing, housing, and nutrition are in short supply, the people are deprived of basics of life. You can use the adjective deprived to describe conditions or people who don’t have what they need or don't have enough. Some uses of deprived are for small things, like when you're deprived of dessert because you didn’t eat your vegetables, but most of the time deprived describes a very serious lack of essential things or services.

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Vocabulary lists containing deprived

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:

Wall Street is afraid it will be deprived of trading opportunities and transaction fees.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 16, 2026

It requires that person to be deprived of ownership of the animal - to have it taken away - and for the animal to be disposed of.

From BBC Aug. 14, 2026

But he complained of the extra expense and being "deprived of the current technology".

From Barron's Aug. 13, 2026

Unified letter shows that the school board was laying the legal groundwork to dismiss Carvalho for cause, which would have deprived him of contractual severance payments.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 4, 2026

Lawrence’s concern with the threat to national security from outside forces, specifically Communism, dated back to his earliest involvement with wartime research, when security issues deprived the Rad Lab of Rossi Lomanitz and Martin Kamen.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

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