dispossessed 1 of 2

dispossessed

2 of 2

verb

past tense of dispossess
as in evicted
to end the occupancy or possession of opponents of gentrification claim that the process unfairly dispossesses poorer residents of their long-established homes

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dispossessed
Adjective
Three days after his 10th birthday, his father, a depressed junkman, killed himself, and the experience of misfortune fueled the young artist’s identification with the dispossessed. Peter Saenger, WSJ, 22 Apr. 2022 Without the voices of the dispossessed, how can there be deconstruction? Audrey Clare Farley, The New Republic, 3 Jan. 2022 And when Israel gained its independence in 1948, Zionism became the world’s first successful Indigenous movement of a dispossessed and colonized people regaining sovereignty in their Indigenous homeland. Micha Danzig, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Dec. 2021 Chilton’s sonorous voice carries with it the perseverance and anguish of the dispossessed, disenfranchised and violated. Washington Post, 18 Oct. 2021 See All Example Sentences for dispossessed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dispossessed
Adjective
  • In the last election, some of the most deprived areas of the country — based on factors like income, housing and health — voted for the Conservative Party for the first time.
    Josh Holder, New York Times, 24 June 2024
  • But what makes Seller’s story sing is his vivid recollection of a deprived childhood with demanding parents, his first job as a booking agent, and his coming out during the early days of the AIDS epidemic.
    Air Mail, Air Mail, 26 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Prior to his career in government, Rasool, who as a child was evicted from a Cape Town neighborhood for white people, became an anti-Apartheid campaigner.
    Mark Davis, Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2025
  • Unable to make rent without his father, Rema and his family were evicted from their apartment.
    Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • The commission violated state law, the groups argued, by not considering all the benefits of the solar panels in its decision and by not ensuring that rooftop solar systems could continue to expand in disadvantaged communities.
    Melody Petersen, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2025
  • The petitioners also argue the appeals court gave too much deference to the CPUC and the ruling did not go far enough to help disadvantaged communities.
    Rob Nikolewski, Mercury News, 2 June 2025
Adjective
  • During campaign events, Lee, who grew up in an impoverished farming household and toiled in factories as a child, spoke from behind bullet-proof glass to crowds, which were surveyed by rooftop police snipers.
    Charlie Campbell, Time, 4 June 2025
  • Curtis’ extraordinary talent is first recognized in kindergarten, when a charitable foundation donates instruments to his impoverished public school.
    Joan Gaylord, Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 2025
Adjective
  • McAfee shouted out underprivileged communities, homeless shelters and LGBTQ communities in referencing all the charity work he’s done.
    Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 28 Apr. 2025
  • Initially focused on feeding frontline workers, the foundation now works to assist underprivileged communities, in part by providing culinary training to children in need.
    Nazanin Lankarani, New York Times, 13 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Shirley is cast as a destitute East End woman, shaped by hardship and time spent in psychiatric care, where art became both refuge and revelation.
    Lee Sharrock, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
  • To many, bringing destitute Vietnamese to American shores seemed nonsensical.
    CBS News, CBS News, 27 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • Should endowment taxes increase, institutions may need to reduce their spending on helping financially needy students be able to attend college.
    Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes.com, 2 June 2025
  • Those people, Republicans say, are the truly needy.
    Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, 18 May 2025
Adjective
  • The Probation Department is examining ways to waive costs for indigent offenders.
    Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 30 May 2025
  • Denying lawyers for the unemployed and evicted In some counties that have invested in public defender offices, indigent defense has been transformed.
    Ilana Panich-Linsman, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Dispossessed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dispossessed. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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