depose
Americanverb (used with object)
-
deposes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deposed,
past participle, past
-
deposing
present participle
-
to remove from office or position, especially high office.
The people deposed the dictator.
-
to testify or affirm under oath, especially in a written statement.
to depose that it was true.
-
Law. to take the deposition of; examine under oath.
Two lawyers deposed the witness.
verb (used without object)
-
deposes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deposed,
past participle, past
-
deposing
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to remove from an office or position, esp one of power or rank
-
law to testify or give (evidence, etc) on oath, esp when taken down in writing; make a deposition
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
deposesimple
-
deposessimple
-
have deposedperfect
-
has deposedperfect
-
am deposingprogressive
-
are deposingprogressive
-
is deposingprogressive
-
have been deposingperfect progressive
-
has been deposingperfect progressive
Past
-
deposedsimple
-
had deposedperfect
-
was deposingprogressive
-
were deposingprogressive
-
had been deposingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of depose
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English deposen, from Old French deposer “to put down,” equivalent to de- de- + poser, from unattested Vulgar Latin posāre, Late Latin pausāre; see pose 1
Explanation
When you force someone in authority out of office — a politician, a king, or a cheerleading captain — you depose them. The word almost always associated with an act of deposition is coup, meaning a sudden act of overthrowing of the government. Sometimes bloodless, more often not. On a less dramatic scale, lawyers depose less exalted folk every day; it means they take evidence from them under oath, possibly to be used in a court case later. Often those giving evidence (mobsters, murderers, financial scammers, etc,) are unwilling to talk to lawyers, hence the suggestion of a stripping away of power and dignity implicit in the term depose.
Vocabulary lists containing depose
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
In the Time of the Butterflies
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
President Obama's Speech at the United Nations
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
“We want to depose their experts and probe and test their experts’ opinions,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026
Pitt’s legal team previously attempted to depose Stoli executive Alexey Oliynik in 2025, claiming that he had relevant information pertaining to the Jolie deal.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
Sadie Weldon, a private citizen, sought to depose the Lilith Fund’s deputy director using a special Texas mechanism called a 202 petition that allows people to investigate a potential claim before filing suit.
From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2026
Bush sent troops in 1989 to depose and arrest the president of Panama, Manuel Noriega.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
Sabata was opposed to the Bantu Authorities and would not capitulate, but my visitors were afraid that Matanzima would depose him, which is eventually what happened.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
One night, after shooting wrapped for the day, Ruffalo went home to prepare for a big scene in which Bilott deposes DuPont’s CEO.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2019
As Hagopian writes, “ESSA deposes one of the cruelest aspects of the test-and-punish policy under NCLB: the so-called ‘Adequate Yearly Progress’ annual test score improvement requirement that labeled nearly every American school failing.”
From Salon ● Jan. 9, 2016
About that show, he deposes, “People said it increased their appreciation for the radical potentials in Elizabethan drama.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 11, 2014
Three months of missed targets, and the catfish deposes the leaders he or she has been shadowing.
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2013
Otto I, Emperor, the Great, 77; marriage, 78; crowned Emperor, 78; his empire, 79, 80; tries and deposes Pope John XII, 82-84.
From A Short History of Italy (476-1900) by Henry Dwight Sedgwick
Earlier this year, civil rights attorneys deposed two ICE deportation officers and learned the agency had shifted from conducting targeted enforcement operations to making collateral arrests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
We’ve reported how deposed Commissioner Marty Makary and his biologics chief Vinay Prasad shifted standards for approving the treatment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
Its other key ally, Bashar al Assad had been deposed as president of Syria and fled to Moscow.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Many voters had hoped the election would draw a line under years of political chaos that has seen a string of presidents jailed, deposed and impeached.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
Then in 1970, unhappy with the Prince’s government, General Lon Nol, deposed him in a military coup.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing -- who ordered the coup deposing Suu Kyi and now serves as civilian president -- on Thursday said she would serve the remainder of her sentence at a "designated residence".
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
The general justified deposing Condé on similar charges - including rampant corruption, disregard for human rights and economic mismanagement.
From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025
An ally that will never fail, no matter who out there is deposing you.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2025
Back in the 9th District, once Ross stepped aside and let her critics take the microphone to make the case for deposing her, they lost steam.
From Slate ● May 6, 2024
The Pope had successfully asserted his power of deposing and elevating kings, and had thus acquired a position which influenced the whole subsequent course of European history.
From History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 2 of 2) by William Edward Hartpole Lecky
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.
