denaturalize

[ dee-nach-er-uh-lahyz ]

verb (used with object)

, de·nat·u·ral·ized, de·nat·u·ral·iz·ing.

1. to deprive of proper or true nature; make unnatural.
2. to deprive of the rights and privileges of citizenship or of naturalization.

denaturalize

/ diːˈnætʃrəˌlaɪz /

verb

1. to deprive of nationality
2. to make unnatural

Derived Forms

• deˌnaturaliˈzation, noun

Other Words From

• de·natu·ral·i·zation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of denaturalize¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; de- + naturalize

Example Sentences

As attorney general, Mr. Civiletti successfully argued before the Supreme Court for the government’s right to denaturalize Nazi war criminals.

From New York Times

Fewer than 150 people had been denaturalized in American courts in the previous 50 years, almost all of them Nazis, war criminals or people who were convicted of federal crimes tied to large-scale immigration fraud.

From New York Times

The anarchist Emma Goldman was denaturalized in 1909, and shipped to Revolutionary Russia a decade later.

From New York Times

His denaturalization task force, for instance, was about “denaturalizing people who should not have been naturalized in the first place,” he said.

From The New Yorker

The government can now denaturalize citizens only if the state can prove they should never have obtained citizenship in the first place, i.e., if it was acquired through some material fraud or misrepresentation.

From New York Times