Synonyms

dispossess

American

[dis-puh-zes] / ˌdɪs pəˈzɛs /

verb (used with object)

to put (a person) out of possession, especially of real property; oust.
to banish.
to abandon ownership of (a building), especially as a bad investment.

Landlords have dispossessed many old tenement buildings.

dispossess British

/ ˌdɪspəˈzɛs /

verb

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

"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

Related Words

See strip ¹.

Other Word Forms

dispossession noun
dispossessor noun
dispossessory adjective

Etymology

Origin of dispossess

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

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.

"Hold On to Me" from Cyprus traces the efforts of an 11-year-old tracking down her estranged father, while documentary "Kikuyu Land" from Kenya examines how powerful outside forces use local corruption to dispossess a people.

From Barron's • Jan. 22, 2026

They were visualizing that they would just dispossess them.

From Slate • Feb. 5, 2024

Vela’s faint effort to dispossess León of the ball was in vain.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2023

Not all alleged witches were poor and landless, however, and sometimes hunts served to dispossess them.

From Scientific American • May 31, 2023

God save us from wanting to dispossess him!

From Mentally Defective Children by Binet, Alfred

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