dislocation

American  

[dis-loh-key-shuhn] / ˌdɪs loʊˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

• dislocations
  plural

1. an act or instance of dislocating.

2. the state of being dislocated.

3. Crystallography. (in a crystal lattice) a line about which there is a discontinuity in the lattice structure.

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dislocation British  

/ ˌdɪsləˈkeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of displacing or the state of being displaced; disruption

2. (esp of the bones in a joint) the state or condition of being dislocated

3. a line, plane, or region in which there is a discontinuity in the regularity of a crystal lattice

4. geology a less common word for fault

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• dislocations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of dislocation

1350–1400; Middle English dislocacioun; see dislocate, -ion

Compare meaning

How does dislocation compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• subluxation vs. dislocation

Explanation

Abruptly moving something (or someone) out of its usual place is dislocation. Cutting down the oak tree in your back yard will cause the dislocation of the birds that always build their nests in it. The word dislocation has several different meanings, but they all have something to do with displacement, moving something from its proper place. A joint dislocation happens when a bone is moved (painfully) out of its normal spot: "A common trampoline injury is elbow dislocation." Human dislocation can occur during war, or after a natural disaster forces people to move away from their homes. The Latin root is dislocare, "put out of place."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dislocation dislocations

A dislocation in pricing then, can and probably will persist.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026

The problems that could have been anticipated two years ago are now arriving in real time: data center backlash, energy strain, some workforce dislocation, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, the early contours of biosecurity risk.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

The data today doesn’t point to enormous dislocation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

Yet for all its honesty about that dislocation, the film remains remarkably hopeful.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

Perhaps that lunatic dislocation in the mind could really happen: that was the thought that defeated him.

From "1984" by George Orwell

Xinghang Zhang, a professor in Purdue's School of Materials Engineering, is the corresponding author of the paper, titled "Plasticity in brittle intermetallics enabled by framework of amorphous interfaces and preexisting dislocations."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

For CoAl to become plastic at room temperature, the material needs a large number of these dislocations.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 31, 2026

Their oil production businesses gain if inventories keep falling and crude prices rise, while their refineries, trading desks, chemical plants, and logistics networks can profit from the dislocations created by the war.

From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026

High Commissioner for Refugees, responsible for the rest of the world, has long stopped dealing with refugees from the many wars and dislocations of the 1940s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

If the prospect of this flattening—and all of the pressures, dislocations, and opportunities accompanying it—makes you uneasy about the future, you are neither wrong nor alone.

From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman

Related Words

• confusion
• disarray
• disconnection
• disorder
• disruption
• disturbance