dissociate
Americanverb (used with object)
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dissociates,
present (3rd person singular)
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dissociated,
past participle, past
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dissociating
present participle
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to break the association of; separate.
The organization issued a statement dissociating itself from the violent protests.
It’s difficult for me to dissociate cranberries from Thanksgiving.
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Psychiatry.
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to cause (certain mental processes or parts of the personality) to become separated from the main part of a person's consciousness as a result of trauma or mental illness.
To avoid fear or pain, the victim may dissociate the memory of the place, circumstances, or feelings related to the incident.
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to cause (a person) to undergo this kind of internal split.
He may be so dissociated from his feelings that he can’t rely on them as a clue to whom to trust.
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Chemistry.
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to cause (a complex substance) to resolve or decompose into its simpler constituents as a result of a change in physical conditions.
UV radiation dissociates NO2 into NO (nitrogen monoxide) and O (atomic oxygen).
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to cause (a constituent of a complex substance) to separate from others in this way.
Within hours, the oxygen became dissociated from the hemoglobin of the blood clot.
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to cause (the molecules of an electrolyte) to separate into their constituent atoms.
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verb (used without object)
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dissociates,
present (3rd person singular)
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dissociated,
past participle, past
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dissociating
present participle
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to end or break an association; disconnect or become disconnected.
Users tend to dissociate from websites that require them to fill out a form.
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Psychiatry. to undergo the splitting off of certain mental processes from the main part of one’s consciousness as a result of trauma or mental illness.
As a child she learned to dissociate from the pain of abandonment.
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Chemistry.
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(of a complex substance) to resolve or decompose reversibly into its simpler constituents as a result of a change in physical conditions.
Under great heat, water dissociates into hydrogen and oxygen.
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(of a constituent) to become separated from the other constituents of a complex substance in this way.
At this point in the process, subunits of the protein dissociate from each other and from the receptor.
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(of the molecules of an electrolyte) to separate into their constituent atoms.
Strong electrolytes dissociate completely, leaving only individual ions in the solution with virtually no intact molecules.
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verb
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to break or cause to break the association between (people, organizations, etc)
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(tr) to regard or treat as separate or unconnected
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to undergo or subject to dissociation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dissociatesimple
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dissociatessimple
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have dissociatedperfect
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has dissociatedperfect
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am dissociatingprogressive
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are dissociatingprogressive
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is dissociatingprogressive
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have been dissociatingperfect progressive
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has been dissociatingperfect progressive
Past
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dissociatedsimple
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had dissociatedperfect
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was dissociatingprogressive
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were dissociatingprogressive
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had been dissociatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dissociate
First recorded in 1605–15; dis- 1 + (as)sociate, modeled on Latin dissociātus “divided,” past participle of dissociāre “to divide, sever”
Explanation
To dissociate is to break apart from someone, such as an employee leaving a business or a spouse leaving a marriage. Dissociate is the opposite of associate. It comes from the Latin dissociare, which means basically "to disunite." To dissociate is to stop associating with someone. If a relationship ends, the two people are dissociated from one another. When you see the word dissociate, think "break-up."
Vocabulary lists containing dissociate
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.
See Examples For:
By restructuring the catalyst surface and changing how reactants adsorb, dissociate, and move through the reaction pathway, the team achieved a space-time yield of 1.2 g·gcat-1·h-1 at 300 ℃ and 3 MPa.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 14, 2026
Today, after all the publicity generated by the US and UK sanctions, businesses are rushing to dissociate themselves from the Prince Group.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2025
Mazin: If you make me dissociate, I’m watching.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2025
She has no trouble watching the finished product though — she can even dissociate and just watch it as a film.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 22, 2024
Part of her wanted to just leave, just run away inside her head, dissociate deeper than anyone could find, but Jam knew she had to stay.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
RBCs carry oxygen to the tissues where oxygen dissociates from the hemoglobin and diffuses into the cells of the tissues.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
The σ subunit dissociates from the polymerase after transcription has been initiated.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
When a nonsense codon is encountered, a release factor binds and dissociates the components and frees the new protein.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
When this happens, a release factor dissociates the components and frees the new polypeptide.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022
Free society dissociates him, and makes him bad and selfish from necessity.
From Cannibals all! or, Slaves without masters by George Fitzhugh
I’m slightly dissociated because it’s already been done, so I feel good; I don’t feel anxious about it now.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2025
The police dissociated itself from the information and said an investigation was under way to identify those responsible.
From BBC ● May 21, 2025
In previous interviews, the musician has spoken of how she dissociated from Lady Gaga.
From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2025
In his scheme, the qubits would consist not of atoms, but those special anyon pairs, which can capture quantum information in their dissociated electrons.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 20, 2023
State and local affiliates dissociated from the National and formed new groups.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
"If you can trick gold into dissociating oxygen, it can actually become a very effective catalyst for certain reactions," Montemore said.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
There was crying, complaining, dissociating and even laughing on those couches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
"She's created popularity by dissociating herself from the party's stagnant image," he says.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
Some people respond by mentally "dissociating," or disconnecting from their physical selves.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2021
At its annual convention in Washington, DC, a group of women offered a resolution officially dissociating the group from Stanton and The Woman's Bible.
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
