deracinate
[ dih-ras-uh-neyt ]
/ dɪˈræs əˌneɪt /
Save This Word!
verb (used with object), de·rac·i·nat·ed, de·rac·i·nat·ing.
to pull up by the roots; uproot; extirpate; eradicate.
to isolate or alienate (a person) from a native or customary culture or environment.
VIDEO FOR DERACINATE
WATCH NOW: Deracinate: Visual Word of the Day
The word deracinate can be used in a few different ways. Deracinate typically is seen in a negative light because to be grounded is to be stable and to be de-rooted is scary. But, sometimes, this word can be turned into a positive experience.
QUIZZES
THINK YOU’VE GOT A HANDLE ON THIS US STATE NICKNAME QUIZ?
Did you ever collect all those state quarters? Put them to good use on this quiz about curious state monikers and the facts around them.
Question 1 of 8
Mississippi’s nickname comes from the magnificent trees that grow there. What is it?
Origin of deracinate
OTHER WORDS FROM deracinate
de·rac·i·na·tion, nounWords nearby deracinate
deputy minister, deputy sheriff, de Quervain's disease, De Quincey, der., deracinate, deradicalize, deraign, derail, derailleur, derailment
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for deracinate
Och, and the girls whose poor hearts you deracinate, Whirl and bewilder and flutter and fascinate!
The Book of Humorous Verse|VariousNo one by taking thought, can deracinate the mental habits of, say, twenty years.
Journalism for Women|E.A. BennettYou cannot deracinate that wide-rooted dogma within your soul that more money means more joy.
The Human Machine|E. Arnold BennettTo deracinate Lowell was impossible, and it was for this very reason that he became so serviceable an international personage.
Modern American Prose Selections|Various
British Dictionary definitions for deracinate
deracinate
/ (dɪˈræsɪˌneɪt) /
verb (tr)
to pull up by or as if by the roots; uproot; extirpate
to remove, as from a natural environment
Derived forms of deracinate
deracination, nounWord Origin for deracinate
C16: from Old French desraciner, from des- dis- 1 + racine root, from Late Latin rādīcīna a little root, from Latin rādīx a root
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