displace

American  

[dis-pleys] / dɪsˈpleɪs /

verb (used with object)

displaced, displacing

1. to compel (a person or persons) to leave home, country, etc.

2. to move or put out of the usual or proper place.

   Synonyms:

   relocate

3. to take the place of; replace; supplant.

   Fiction displaces fact.

4. to remove from a position, office, or dignity.

   Synonyms:

   dismiss, oust, depose

5. Obsolete. to rid oneself of.

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displace British  

/ dɪsˈpleɪs /

verb

1. to move from the usual or correct location

2. to remove from office or employment

3. to occupy the place of; replace; supplant

4. to force (someone) to leave home or country, as during a war

5. chem to replace (an atom or group in a chemical compound) by another atom or group

6. physics to cause a displacement of (a quantity of liquid, usually water of a specified type and density)

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Related Words

Displace, misplace mean to put something in a different place from where it should be. To displace often means to shift something solid and comparatively immovable, more or less permanently from its place: The flood displaced houses from their foundations. To misplace is to put an object in a wrong place so that it is difficult to find: Papers belonging in the safe were misplaced and temporarily lost.

Other Word Forms

• displaceable adjective
• displacer noun
• predisplace verb (used with object)
• undisplaceable adjective

Etymology

Origin of displace

1545–55; dis- ¹ + place, perhaps modeled on Middle French desplacer

Explanation

When you displace something, you move it to a new position — either in a concrete sense, like moving a chair, or in an abstract sense, like firing someone from a job. Displace means to forcefully move or remove something — or someone — but it can also mean “to take the place of,” again, with some force. If your brother is sitting in your seat, you might say, “Get out of my chair! Don’t make me have to displace you!” Similarly, when a new employee is hired at work, she might displace the person who had the job before.

Example Sentences

The overall effect of the proposal will be to displace veterans, not add housing, said a congressional staffer who is familiar with the issue but not authorized to speak publicly.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 22, 2026

Bessent also said it is clear that China is trying to displace the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency.

From Barron's • Apr. 14, 2026

The development is expected to displace 130 bat roosts but Reform UK county councillor, Vernon Smith, said he was astonished by the cost of the project.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

“We continue to believe it is highly unlikely that tools from the frontier labs will displace cybersecurity vendors, particularly those that primarily provide solutions that do real-time detection & response,” D.A.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026

Hrothgar’s nephew was kind, for all that, to the cousins he half intended to displace.

From "Grendel" by John Gardner

Related Words

• disturb
• evict
• expel
• force out
• lose
• uproot