deprive
Americanverb (used with object)
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to remove or withhold something from the enjoyment or possession of (a person or persons).
to deprive a man of life; to deprive a baby of candy.
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to remove from ecclesiastical office.
verb
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(foll by of) to prevent from possessing or enjoying; dispossess (of)
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archaic to remove from rank or office; depose; demote
Synonym Usage
See strip 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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deprivalnoun
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deprivernoun
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predepriveverb (used with object)
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deprivableadjective
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deprivativeadjective
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nondeprivableadjective
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self-deprivingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deprivesimple
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deprivessimple
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have deprivedperfect
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has deprivedperfect
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am deprivingprogressive
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are deprivingprogressive
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is deprivingprogressive
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have been deprivingperfect progressive
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has been deprivingperfect progressive
Past
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deprivedsimple
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had deprivedperfect
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was deprivingprogressive
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were deprivingprogressive
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had been deprivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deprive
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English depriven, from Anglo-French, Old French depriver, from Medieval Latin dēprīvāre, equivalent to Latin dē- de- + prīvāre “to deprive” ( prīv(us) private + -āre infinitive suffix)
Explanation
Deprive means to keep from having. If your little brother gets loud and hyper every time he eats sweets, your parents might deprive him of sugary cereal and candy. Deprive can also mean to take away something that someone already had, or feels they deserve to have, like basic human rights. "A crowd gathered to protest the man's imprisonment for a crime he did not commit; they didn't want to allow the government to deprive him of his freedom." The word comes from the Latin, de", which means "entirely," and privare, which means "release from." Put together, they mean to "entirely release from." In this case, the imprisoned man's freedom is being "entirely released," or taken away, and he'll no longer have it.
Vocabulary lists containing deprive
The Declaration of Independence
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
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Freak the Mighty
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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:
A proud moment for those associated with the club, but it did deprive key players of the mid-season breather they normally would have had.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Yet Mr. Kelly is willing to deprive the neediest children of access to the greatest blessing America could offer: a high-quality education.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 18, 2026
And if we deprive gay guys of their annual chance to make Mother’s Day about their personal taste in actresses, God help us all.
From Salon ● May 10, 2026
“These conditions are excessive restrictions on his liberty that serve no justifiable purpose and deprive Mr. Allen of dignity while incarcerated.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 3, 2026
Or would he, as I suspected, deprive the yuppies of another crack at him and drift in some other direction?
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
His death also deprives Trump of one of his most trusted allies on Capitol Hill.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
This particularly deprives eastern parts of the country of rainfall and sees a later start to the northern wet season -- though less chance of tropical cyclones.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
A heart attack deprives heart muscle cells of oxygen and nutrients, causing many of them to die.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 21, 2025
Arbor heats it to extreme temperatures and deprives it of enough oxygen to make the biomass fully combust.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 30, 2025
Anything that deprives them of their sport will also reach out and affect a large number of economic interests.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Anne-Claire Le Jeune, who represents six women who had made complaints about Siad, said victims had been deprived of justice.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
One of the subject’s mothers explains that she had to leave home for work, so her son was deprived even of maternal influence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
As a facultative anaerobic bacterium, it thrives in both oxygen rich and oxygen poor environments, allowing it to multiply inside the oxygen deprived regions commonly found within tumors.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026
I could survive with 10%, but my brother has a much lower-paying career, and I would struggle to forgive my father if his actions deprived my brother of financial security.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
“I know that so many young men living in the inner city feel deprived of the better things in life,” my dad was saying.
From "145th Street: Short Stories" by Walter Dean Myers
The brothers claim Ledward's "misconduct is causing ongoing harm" to Boseman's elderly parents and depriving them "of financial assets at a vulnerable age when such support is most critical".
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Solidays music festival in Paris was also cancelled, depriving the Aids charity that organises it of three million euros.
From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026
A 2026 AGA analysis showed that unregulated gaming devices, offshore sportsbooks and illegal online casinos generate approximately $53.9 billion in revenue each year, depriving states of more than $15 billion in lost tax revenue.
From MarketWatch ● May 15, 2026
So she’s probably subject to the California millionaires tax even after depriving herself of an extra dollar.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
Mr. Sir was no longer depriving him of water.
From "Holes" by Louis Sachar
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.
