Meaning & use

dispossession

noun·Advanced

The act of taking property, land, or possessions away from someone, often by force or legal action.

See it in a sentence

The novel traces one family's dispossession from their farmland during the war.

Colonial policies led to the widespread dispossession of indigenous communities' territories.

A note on using this word

Dispossession is a formal, often historical or legal term; "eviction" is the everyday word for being forced out of a home.

Words with a similar meaning

evictionexpropriation

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

restitution

Make it your own

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