Synonym Chooser

How does the verb oust contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of oust are eject, evict, and expel. While all these words mean "to drive or force out," oust implies removal or dispossession by power of the law or by force or compulsion.

police ousted the squatters

When would eject be a good substitute for oust?

The words eject and oust can be used in similar contexts, but eject carries an especially strong implication of throwing or thrusting out from within as a physical action.

ejected an obnoxious patron from the bar

In what contexts can evict take the place of oust?

The synonyms evict and oust are sometimes interchangeable, but evict chiefly applies to turning out of house and home.

evicted for nonpayment of rent

When might expel be a better fit than oust?

While the synonyms expel and oust are close in meaning, expel stresses a thrusting out or driving away especially permanently which need not be physical.

a student expelled from college

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 oust Lee, a 40-year-old legislator, previously served as the PPP’s youngest party leader before being ousted by Yoon’s faction and subsequently founding his own splinter party. Jong Eun Lee, The Conversation, 29 May 2025 But the problem has been extra-sticky for Democrats for years, in part because Pelosi and her equally senior lieutenants, Reps. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., now 85, and Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., now 84, sat atop the caucus for so long that younger members started leaving in frustration — or plotted to oust them. Michelle Cottle, Mercury News, 29 May 2025 Yu and Yang ousted the No. 4 seeds Nunnery & Sobek early, then continued their run into the semis. Todd Boss, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025 After he’s unceremoniously ousted by his firm and contractually barred from similar employment for two years, each new expense feels like a punch to the gut. Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 26 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for oust
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oust
Verb
  • The Subaru then rolled over and struck a light pole, ejecting him from the vehicle.
    Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 6 June 2025
  • He was ejected from 10 games in 1898 and was arrested in the offseason for killing a mule that belonged to a farmer.
    Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2025
Verb
  • At the center of the defense team’s argument was Khalil Quinan, the former lead prosecutor on the case, who withdrew after a judge ruled he could be deposed and questioned under oath about his access to the material.
    Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 22 May 2025
  • Sauer made his request following a lower court's decision to allow a government watchdog to depose DOGE staffers to gain greater understanding of the department's workings, arguing it should be subjected to the same rules which apply to any federal agency.
    Dan Gooding Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • One article from a respected legacy publication just last year centered on how to get your neighbor evicted for smelling like weed.
    Lindsey Bartlett, Rolling Stone, 27 May 2025
  • The officer told Dean that, under North Carolina law, the woman was a resident at the hotel and would need to be evicted to be forced to leave.
    Jeff A. Chamer, Charlotte Observer, 27 May 2025
Verb
  • For years, a mysterious figure who goes by the handle Stern led the Trickbot ransomware gang and evaded identification—even as other members of the group were outed in leaks and unmasked.
    Andy Greenberg, Wired News, 30 May 2025
  • Eddie's real parentage is revealed, Maeve is outed, Kevin catches up with Rusby, Bella brokers her deal, and Alice attends an awkward Harrigan dinner.
    Matt Cabral, EW.com, 26 May 2025
Verb
  • The region went dark late Saturday morning, after a high-voltage line in the region toppled over, RTE said on X.
    Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 24 May 2025
  • The safe barrier protecting dozens of butterflies at a Missouri zoo was breached as winds toppled trees and tornadoes ripped through the state.
    Kate Linderman, Kansas City Star, 23 May 2025
Verb
  • The Administration has continued retaliating by depriving Harvard of billions of dollars in federal grants and contracts, and by attempting to strip the university’s tax-exempt status.
    Jeannie Suk Gersen, New Yorker, 29 May 2025
  • Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who killed Floyd, is serving two sentences of more than 20 years in prison for a federal charge of depriving Floyd of his civil rights, and state charges of unintentional murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.
    Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN Money, 25 May 2025
Verb
  • Their preferred solution to informational complexity—that certain ideas and the people associated with them were Bad and Wrong and needed to be banished from the public sphere—wasn’t much better.
    Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 28 May 2025
  • Through his tight leadership that began with the fifth season, delays became a thing of the past, unceremoniously banished to the farthest reaches of the Central Finite Curve.
    Josh Weiss, Forbes.com, 23 May 2025
Verb
  • Now, the show has been unseated by something rather strange.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 27 May 2025
  • Tuberville ultimately unseated Doug Jones, the incumbent senator from Alabama and the first Democrat to represent the state in the Senate in decades.
    Sonam Sheth Gabe Whisnant, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

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

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