dispossess

American  

[dis-puh-zes] / ˌdɪs pəˈzɛs /

verb (used with object)

• dispossesses,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dispossessed,
  past participle,  past
• dispossessing
  present participle

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.

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dispossess British  

/ ˌdɪspəˈzɛs /

verb

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

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Synonym Usage

See strip ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dispossession
  noun
• dispossessor
  noun
• dispossessory
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• dispossessing
  present
• dispossessed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dispossess
  simple
• dispossesses
  simple
• have dispossessed
  perfect
• has dispossessed
  perfect
• am dispossessing
  progressive
• are dispossessing
  progressive
• is dispossessing
  progressive
• have been dispossessing
  perfect progressive
• has been dispossessing
  perfect progressive

Past

• dispossessed
  simple
• had dispossessed
  perfect
• was dispossessing
  progressive
• were dispossessing
  progressive
• had been dispossessing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dispossess
  simple
• will have dispossessed
  perfect
• will be dispossessing
  progressive
• will have been dispossessing
  perfect progressive

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

Explanation

When you take something away from someone, especially land or property, you dispossess them of it. Your parents might dispossess you of the tent you pitched in the yard to set up the grill for their upcoming cookout. At the heart of dispossess is the verb possess, which you may think of as meaning "to own," but which also means "to occupy" or "to hold as real estate." When people are deprived of their property or possessions, they are dispossessed. In fact, the verb dispossess is sometimes used in place of the more direct evict. If a homeowner misses too many mortgage payments, the bank may dispossess them, forcing them to move out.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dispossess dispossesses dispossessed dispossessing

"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

Evict, e-vikt′, v.t. to dispossess by law: to expel from.—ns.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

Milner floats the ball into the penalty area and Villarreal embark on a lightning fast counter-attack that comes to an abrupt end when Dejan Lovren dispossesses Denis Suarez with a fine challenge.

From The Guardian ● May 5, 2016

But Veretout dispossesses Pugh, and then Pugh fouls the former Nantes player.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 8, 2015

But Watson, upset at looking like a haddie, chases back and dispossesses the Portuguese.

From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2011

Oof, as I was writing that Asamoah Gyan goes close again when he dispossesses the Nigerian defence and tries to lob Vincent Enyeama.

From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2010

A grandson of the first claimant, Robert Bruce, is crowned King of Scotland; he dispossesses the English of a great part of Scotland.

From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07 by Rossiter Johnson

“Hip-hop has become the global language of resistance — the musical form through which the dispossessed and disenfranchised articulate grievance and assert dignity,” Singh said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2026

The Kemalists initially bestowed upon Abdulmejid the largely symbolic title of caliph after they dispossessed his cousin of ruling power in 1922.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

With six minutes of regular time remaining, he dispossessed an opponent, surged forward and coolly fired the ball into the net.

From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026

In the golden age of mobility, the winners were the dispossessed.

From Salon ● Mar. 26, 2025

The woman in the snow was the emissary of a dispossessed tribe.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead

But it also ordered local authorities to seal off and protect the area where the stone shaft was found, dispossessing Muslims of a portion of the mosque they had used until this month.

From Seattle Times ● May 25, 2022

And then came the white settlers and the commercializing of the hot springs, effectively dispossessing them from their own lands, even though some tribes tried to assert their legal claims.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2021

The U.S. government and its military did the bulk of the dispossessing of Native Americans.

From Salon ● Oct. 9, 2020

After winning back-to-back penalties which put them into the attack, Fiji appeared to have scored through Jerry Tuwai but the South African defense pulled off a miraculous save by dispossessing Tuwai over the goal line.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 5, 2017

It felt oddly dispossessing, being handed this first legal proof of my personhood: until that moment, it had never occurred to me that proof was required.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Related Words

• evict