disinherit
Americanverb (used with object)
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disinherits,
present (3rd person singular)
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disinherited,
past participle, past
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disinheriting
present participle
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Law. to exclude from inheritance (an heir or a next of kin).
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to deprive of a heritage, country, right, privilege, etc..
the disinherited peoples of the earth.
verb
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law to deprive (an heir or next of kin) of inheritance or right to inherit
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to deprive of a right or heritage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disinheritsimple
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disinheritssimple
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have disinheritedperfect
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has disinheritedperfect
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am disinheritingprogressive
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are disinheritingprogressive
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is disinheritingprogressive
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have been disinheritingperfect progressive
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has been disinheritingperfect progressive
Past
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disinheritedsimple
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had disinheritedperfect
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was disinheritingprogressive
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were disinheritingprogressive
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had been disinheritingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disinherit
Explanation
When you disinherit someone, you decide not to leave that person anything in your will. Your eccentric grandfather might threaten to disinherit you because of your dirty fingernails. You need to have written a will — a document that lists where you want your money and property to go after your death — in order to disinherit someone. When your wealthy relative actually removes your name from her will, she officially disinherits you. The word inherit is at the heart of disinherit, with its old-fashioned meaning, "make someone an heir." When you add the Latin prefix dis, "not," you take away the inheritance altogether.
Vocabulary lists containing disinherit
Confessions of a Murder Suspect
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Part 3 Vocabulary (Unit 2)
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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:
“A parent can disinherit a child, leaving them nothing,” according to Albertson & Davidson, a law firm with offices across southern California.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 15, 2025
As we divest from its dated narratives and disinherit its archetypes, we need artists who are astute and skilled enough to invent new ones.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024
Fleming severed his relationship with Monique after his mother threatened to disinherit him, an act that would reverberate across his lifetime in pangs of sadness and despair.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2024
Attorneys for two of Franklin's sons had asserted their half-brother Ted White "wants to disinherit" them.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2023
“If you’re not in Gryffindor, we’ll disinherit you,” said Ron, “but no pressure.”
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Nearly every state in the U.S. has a version of California’s slayer statute, which effectively disinherits beneficiaries who’ve “feloniously and intentionally” killed their benefactors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
If she disinherits me, her only child, I can’t make it up to my half-siblings.
From Slate ● Oct. 12, 2021
He disinherits Lewis, leaving him only the ill-fated collection.
From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2015
Sebald’s melancholy flâneur, then, already disinherits Baudelaire’s 19th-century optimism.
From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2013
My dear Biddy: the Undershaft tradition disinherits him.
From Major Barbara by Bernard Shaw
A bitter man, George Tennyson had been disinherited by his own father and forced into holy orders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
“I believe there was a will that disinherited us somewhere,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025
For Thurman, hatred is the real threat of occupation because it disguises itself as common sense and self-protection, then spreads through the disinherited as the cancer it becomes.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2024
Did your brother know she would be disinherited, and if so, why?
From Slate ● Jan. 11, 2022
In the 1964 “long, hot summer” riots in major cities across the United States, the socially disinherited black ghetto youth were always at the forefront.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
“A lot of parents in new relationships end up, unbeknownst to them, disinheriting their children,” said Stacy Francis, a New York City-based certified financial planner.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
But for Marcus to follow this precedent would mean disinheriting his child.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
Another post suggested disinheriting children, and deploying "your thoughts about the estrangement in the will as a last word."
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2024
If your spouse isn’t willing, you can talk to the attorney about your options, but understand that disinheriting them may not be possible.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2021
Bitterly as the Squire had felt the marriage, angry as he had been with Joe, he had never had the remotest thought of disinheriting him.
From Trevlyn Hold by Mrs. Henry Wood
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