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.

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disempower British  

/ ˌdɪsɪmˈpaʊə /

verb

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

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Other Word Forms

• disempowerment noun

Etymology

Origin of disempower

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

Example Sentences

Last month, 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. 13, 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

The Fifth and Sixth amendments were designed, in part, to disempower judges—who are, after all, employees of the state—and hand over the final determination of guilt to a dozen citizens drawn from the community.

From Slate • Feb. 21, 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

If this were true, Columbus would have reached China, garlic would disempower magnets, and pigs could fly.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton