Privation
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 The state of being deprived of or lacking an attribute formerly or properly possessed; the loss or absence of such an attribute. countable, uncountable
- 2 act of depriving someone of food or money or rights wordnet
- 3 The state of being very poor, and lacking the basic necessities of life. countable, uncountable
"His [the Native American's] nature is stern, simple and enduring; fitted to grapple with difficulties, and to support privations."
- 4 a state of extreme poverty wordnet
- 5 The act of depriving someone of such basic necessities; deprivation. countable, uncountable
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- 6 Degradation or suspension from an office. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Refinement and amusement, like knowledge, are so diffused now-a-days, that an exile from the royal circle would be a nominal punishment; but it then included every species of privation. The theatre—at that era such a resource—balls, fêtes, &c., to say nothing of worldly influence, were all forfeited by a banishment from court, the centre of all the pleasures, variety, and ambition of society."
Example
More examples"His [the Native American's] nature is stern, simple and enduring; fitted to grapple with difficulties, and to support privations."
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English privacioun, from Middle French privation, privacion, from Old French privacion, from Latin prīvātiō; compare French privation. See private.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.