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Synonyms

disempower

American  
[dis-em-pou-er] / ˌdɪs ɛmˈpaʊ ər /

verb (used with object)

  1. to deprive of influence, importance, etc..

    Voters feel they have become disempowered by recent political events.


disempower British  
/ ˌdɪsɪmˈpaʊə /

verb

  1. (tr) to deprive (a person) of power or authority

"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 disempower

First recorded in 1805–15; dis- 1 + empower

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:

In January, he published a paper that found that advanced AI tools can disempower users and distort their sense of reality.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 25, 2026

Opposition parties highlighted cost of living issues, high unemployment - especially for young people - and fears that constitutional changes could disempower the disadvantaged.

From BBC Jun. 4, 2024

Food and Agriculture Organization called for transformative changes to the formal and informal social systems that disempower women who work on farms and in the food sector around the world.

From Salon Jul. 31, 2023

Pamela Lopez, a lobbyist who accused a lawmaker of sexual assault in 2017, said a defamation lawsuit used as a retaliation tactic goes beyond trying to disempower survivors.

From Seattle Times Apr. 20, 2023

And he remarks that with this equipment you will find it easy to establish that garlic and diamonds do not disempower magnets; you can do the experiment whenever you like.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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