disassociate
Americanverb (used with object)
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disassociates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disassociated,
past participle, past
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disassociating
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disassociatesimple
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disassociatessimple
-
have disassociatedperfect
-
has disassociatedperfect
-
am disassociatingprogressive
-
are disassociatingprogressive
-
is disassociatingprogressive
-
have been disassociatingperfect progressive
-
has been disassociatingperfect progressive
Past
-
disassociatedsimple
-
had disassociatedperfect
-
was disassociatingprogressive
-
were disassociatingprogressive
-
had been disassociatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disassociate
Explanation
It’s often said that we are the company we keep, so it makes sense to disassociate — or distance ourselves — from people whose behaviors and beliefs we do not wish to be connected to. To disassociate means to separate yourself from a person, group, or idea. For example, if you end a friendship with your long-time buddies because you value honesty and they do not, you are disassociating from them. This term often indicates an intentional effort to distance oneself from certain people, organizations, beliefs, or behaviors that are no longer acceptable to you so that you are no longer associated with them.
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:
"That's often the issue – life can be too much, by scrolling on their phone they can disassociate from the real world."
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
In trying to disassociate herself from the scandal, Melania’s lack of acknowledgment of her husband’s ties to Epstein stands out as a confusing, but increasingly familiar, bit of cognitive dissonance.
From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2026
Realistically, my husband and I would probably end the day by binge-watching bad reality TV to decompress and disassociate for a little bit — something like “Love Island.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2025
Another police officer, Richard Scott, who helped gather the bodies of those killed, told the inquiry he binned his blood-soaked clothing after his shift to try to "disassociate from the scene".
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2025
The boys from the neighboring room flinched and took a quick step backward, trying to disassociate themselves.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
Notably, reformist President Mohammad Khatami’s foreign minister in 1998 said that the “government disassociates itself from any reward which has been offered in this regard and does not support it.”
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2022
If there’s a central theme to the collection, it’s that illness disassociates us from ourselves, even if we survive it.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 13, 2021
He added, “On a general level, Cryos disassociates itself from any form of serial sperm donation due to the importance of not exceeding national pregnancy quotas” in each country to which they send sperm.
From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2021
A diplomat says some of the "disassociates" are certainly working for Iran.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2019
Such a temper as this naturally disassociates them from reality and makes them contemptuous of contradictory experiences.
From Modern Religious Cults and Movements by Gaius Glenn Atkins
"It has truly disassociated us from the impact of our words."
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2025
Critics have accused the family of using its philanthropy to whitewash its business practices, and museums such as the Louvre in Paris and the National Portrait Gallery in London have disassociated themselves from the family.
From Science Magazine ● Nov. 22, 2024
We cannot afford to be disassociated from the political process this fall.
From Salon ● May 2, 2024
She explored the Freudian idea of the double, she said, as the physical manifestation of a disassociated or split self.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2023
He felt curiously disassociated from all that he had heard.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
Delevingne has previously spoken about struggling with depression and how she became "very good at disassociating from emotion completely".
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
“I would say that just because you're disassociating from politics doesn't mean it is disassociating from you. And at the end of the day, politics do matter.”
From Salon ● Dec. 29, 2024
She was regularly disassociating, she said, looking down at her hands and wondering whose they were.
From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2023
They can wield their power by disassociating with objectionable partners.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 28, 2022
The prosecution and about half of the friends of the court hastily left by a side door, probably to issue statements disassociating themselves from the deceased Maverick.
From Lone Star Planet by H. Beam Piper
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.
