disenfranchised

Sometimes dis·fran·chised

[dis-en-fran-chahyzd]

adjective

1. deprived of any of the rights or privileges of citizens, especially the right to vote.

   Given the illegal requirements reportedly imposed at some polling places, we can expect a lot of lawsuits from disenfranchised citizens.

2. deprived of the rights or privileges of full participation in society or in any community or organization, especially of the opportunity to influence policy or to make one’s voice heard.

   A session on LGBTQ literature provided concrete examples and professional resources to support this often disenfranchised group.

3. deprived of a legal or commercial franchise.

   A disenfranchised Noodles Only franchisee has opened up about his struggles operating in the town’s “business graveyard.”

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of disenfranchise.

Other Word Forms

• nondisenfranchised adjective
• undisenfranchised adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of disenfranchised¹

First recorded in 1810–20; disenfranchise ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

The abrupt shift left Harvey resentful and disenfranchised.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He was talking straight to his actual voters and, beyond them, to an entire disenfranchised and alienated generation that believes, or rather knows, that power structure has failed them entirely.

Read more on Salon

Proposition 50 opponents cried foul, saying they were disenfranchised.

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Her first album Horses was for the disenfranchised and the shunned.

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Some voters in Zanzibar felt disenfranchised and said they would "leave that section blank" on the presidential ballot.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• defenseless 
• helpless 
• impotent 
• incapable 
• ineffective 
• ineffectual 
• inert 
• paralyzed www.thesaurus.com
• passive 
• vulnerable 
• weak