Decolonize

//diːˈkɒlənaɪz// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To release from the status of colony; to allow a colony to become independent. transitive

    "A paternal government would attempt to decolonize American literature, by forbidding the re-publication of foreign works, and offering premiums to those of home production."

  2. 2
    grant independence to (a former colony) wordnet
  3. 3
    To reverse the colonization of, i.e. to grant back autonomy to a group. transitive

    "Across Ukraine, officials are starting projects to, as they say, “decolonize” their cities. Streets and subway stops whose names evoke the history of the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union are under scrutiny by a population eager to rid itself of traces of the nation that invaded in late February."

Synonyms

All synonyms
decoloniseemancipateuncolonize

Example

More examples

"In 1967, the UN formally call on Spain to decolonize Western Sahara."

Etymology

From de- + colonize.

More for "decolonize"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.