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Synonyms

displaced person

American  

noun

  1. a person driven or expelled from their homeland by war, famine, tyranny, etc. DP, D.P.

displaced person British  

noun

  1.  DP.  a person forced from his home or country, esp by war or revolution

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of displaced person

First recorded in 1940–45

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.

“I’m talking to you now as a displaced person, along with what’s left of my clan, all of us spread out in different parts of Gaza,” Dughmush said.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 5, 2025

"This is a joke, not a map, because we don't know where to go," a displaced person who was sheltering in Khan Younis told him.

From BBC • Dec. 4, 2023

He said those early years made him "an eternally displaced person" sensitive to the plight of refugees.

From Reuters • Oct. 16, 2023

Opposition activists in northwest Syria said the man killed showed up in the area about 10 days ago claiming to be a displaced person from the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, bordering Iraq.

From Washington Times • Apr. 4, 2023

On the other hand, every displaced person milling about on the streets means another pair of eyes looking for the five rebels on the loose.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.