dispossess

[dis-puh-zes]

verb (used with object)

1. to put (a person) out of possession, especially of real property; oust.

2. to banish.

3. to abandon ownership of (a building), especially as a bad investment.

   Landlords have dispossessed many old tenement buildings.

dispossess

/ ˌdɪspəˈzɛs /

verb

1. (tr) to take away possession of something, esp property; expel

Other Word Forms

• dispossession noun
• dispossessor noun
• dispossessory adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of dispossess¹

First recorded in 1425–75; dis- ¹ + possess; replacing Middle English disposseden, equivalent to dis- ¹ + posseden (from Old French posseder ), from Latin possidēre; possess

Synonym Study

See strip ¹.

Example Sentences

He believes that those at the heart of the protests were the "dispossessed".

From BBC

White Americans were moving into the Southwest in large numbers, dispossessing the Mexican Americans who had been there for generations through the courts, squatting or outright murder.

From Los Angeles Times

He has spent a decade organizing among the poor and dispossessed, including with the Kairos Center and the Poor People’s Campaign.

From Salon

But he was unique among the Democrats in speaking directly to the disaffected and dispossessed middle class.

From Los Angeles Times

Those who protest are dispossessed of their property, even their land.

From Salon

Related Words

• evict