verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To put out of place; to disarrange.
2. 2
   cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense wordnet
3. 3
   To move something, or someone, especially to forcibly move people from their homeland.

   "Manipur: Thousands displaced as ethnic clashes grip north-eastern state"

4. 4
   cause to move, usually with force or pressure wordnet
5. 5
   To supplant, or take the place of something or someone; to substitute.

Show 5 more definitions

6. 6
   terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position wordnet
7. 7
   To replace, on account of being superior to or more suitable than that which is being replaced.

   "Electronic calculators soon displaced the older mechanical kind."

8. 8
   take the place of or have precedence over wordnet
9. 9
   To have a weight equal to that of the water displaced.
10. 10
    To repress.

    "Freud considered shyness to be evidence of displaced narcissism."

Synonyms

All synonyms

movebanishdeposefireoustrelocate

Antonyms

All antonyms

station

Example

More examples

"The growing power of the new mercantile aristocracy was beginning to displace the medieval nobility's control."

Etymology

From Middle French desplacer (French: déplacer).

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