1. to take away someone’s property or possessions, especially land or a home
Usage: often used in legal contexts
2. to deprive someone of something they own or have a right to
Usage: formal

Examples

• The landlord tried to dispossess the tenants for not paying rent.
• Many families were dispossessed of their homes during the war.
• The new government dispossessed wealthy landowners of their estates.
• Indigenous peoples were dispossessed of their ancestral lands.
• The court ruled to dispossess the company of its mining rights.
• Economic hardship can dispossess people of their life savings.