uproot

American  

[uhp-root, -root] / ʌpˈrut, -ˈrʊt /

verb (used with object)

1. to pull out by or as if by the roots: root.

   The hurricane uprooted many trees and telephone poles.

2. to remove violently or tear away from a native place or environment.

   The industrial revolution uprooted large segments of the rural population.

3. to destroy or eradicate as if by pulling out roots: root.

   The conquerors uprooted many of the Native traditions.

   Synonyms:

   remove, eliminate, banish, extirpate

4. to displace, as from a home or country; tear away, as from customs or a way of life.

   to uproot a people.

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verb (used without object)

1. to become uprooted.

uproot British  

/ ʌpˈruːt /

verb

1. to pull up by or as if by the roots

2. to displace (a person or persons) from native or habitual surroundings

3. to remove or destroy utterly

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Other Word Forms

• uprootedness noun
• uprooter noun

Etymology

Origin of uproot

First recorded in 1610–20; up- + root ²

Explanation

When you uproot people, you move them from one place to a completely new one. Your parents may need to uproot you if your mom gets a new job all the way across the country. One meaning of the verb uproot is "move," especially when a person is forced to move. Another way to use uproot is more literal: to pull a plant out of the ground, roots and all. You might, for example, uproot your favorite rose bush and replant it in a sunnier spot in your garden. Interestingly, the figurative sense of uproot is about a hundred years older than the literal meaning, which was first used in the late 1600's.

Example Sentences

To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of men and women.

From Salon • Feb. 13, 2026

Efforts to help the crisis-hit industry include the government's latest 130-million-euro "arrachage" fund that opened last Friday, offering subsidies to loss-making owners to uproot their vines.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

An estimated 75,000—some 2.5% of the population—had no desire to live within an independent republic that held memories of “terror, disillusion, and death,” preferring to uproot themselves to Canada and beyond.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026

As women water vegetables and uproot weeds in a rural corner of north-eastern Nigeria, men in uniform stand guard nearby holding huge rifles.

From BBC • Oct. 22, 2025

Mia began searching for the right, delicate words to uproot this idea, but it was too late.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

Related Words

• annihilate
• demolish
• displace
• eradicate
• exterminate
• overthrow
• overturn
• wipe out