dispossessed

[ dis-puh-zest ]

adjective

1. evicted, as from a dwelling, land, etc.; ousted.
2. without property, status, etc., as wandering or displaced persons; rootless; disfranchised.
3. having suffered the loss of expectations, prospects, relationships, etc.; disinherited; disaffiliated; alienated:

   The modern city dweller may feel spiritually dispossessed.

Word History and Origins

Origin of dispossessed¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; dispossess + -ed ²

Example Sentences

He was dispossessed and stateless for many years.

From Slate

"That's enough, Steve, You've dispossessed tens of thousands of Americans out of their homes," I announced in my stentorian, second-bass Yale Glee Club voice, rising from a seat at a table not far from the dais, where Schwarzman was holding forth self- indulgently about a donation he'd made.

From Salon

As the Depression tightened its grip on the nation in 1931 and amid soaring unemployment and the spread of shantytowns of dispossessed Americans known as “Hoovervilles,” veterans began to gather in Washington, uncorking fears of civil disorder.

From Los Angeles Times

The United States has reached the endpoint of a cruel economic and political system that resembles a dead man walking–a zombie politics that thrives on the exploitation of the working class, immigrants, the poor, dispossessed, and helpless children dying under the bombed-out rubble of state terrorism.

From Salon

One of the writers most influenced by Ellison, Albert Murray, wrote in his classic treatise on blues and jazz, “Stomping the Blues,” that the musical performance, and the exhilaration it creates in the audience, gives the dispossessed the opportunity to beat their blues into the ground.

From Salon

Related Words

• destitute
• disadvantaged
• needy
• underprivileged