dispossessed
Americanadjective
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evicted, as from a dwelling, land, etc.; ousted.
-
without property, status, etc., as wandering or displaced persons; rootless; disfranchised.
-
having suffered the loss of expectations, prospects, relationships, etc.; disinherited; disaffiliated; alienated.
The modern city dweller may feel spiritually dispossessed.
Etymology
Origin of dispossessed
First recorded in 1590–1600; dispossess + -ed 2
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.
Abdulmejid thus became, uniquely, the caliph of the Turkish Republic and the only caliph not to be sultan—until he, too, was dispossessed and exiled in 1924.
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
He has spent a decade organizing among the poor and dispossessed, including with the Kairos Center and the Poor People’s Campaign.
From Salon • Jul. 21, 2025
“They are the vehicles who carry an army of souls of men and women who have been deported during slave trade, an army of dispossessed souls. They also represent the vast diaspora, the contemporary one.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2024
What he did, on a small scale, showed me how important it is to empower the dispossessed and the disenfranchised in the wake of oppression.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
