disenfranchised

adjective

dis·​en·​fran·​chised ˌdis-in-ˈfran-ˌchīzd 

: deprived of some right, privilege, or immunity

Tough, resourceful, and determined to help her disenfranchised and disenchanted students learn how to learn and love it, Johnson employs a barrage of techniques.

—Donna Seaman

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill does what it can, but the millions of mentally ill remain the least supported, the most disenfranchised, and the most excluded people in our society today.

—Oliver Sacks

especially : deprived of the right to vote

The value of the right to vote, however, given the reality of racial voting patterns, will depend on whether it translates into political power and influence for the previously disenfranchised minority.

—Alan Freeman

Examples of disenfranchised in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

On April 5, disenfranchised Americans are being encouraged to protest the Trump administration's policies as part of a national movement in myriad cities, hosted by a group of older Americans called Third Act. —Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Mar. 2025

The four-part drama, from Joy’s Jack Thorne and This Is England’s Stephen Graham, shows how the darkest and most bleakly misogynistic corners of the manosphere can lure disenfranchised young men, with grisly real-life consequences. —Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 23 Mar. 2025

Old versus young framing is ubiquitous, as in this Bloomberg article about Germany's disenfranchised youth that cropped up in my news feed. —Sheila Callaham, Forbes, 18 Mar. 2025

The latest surge in violence highlights the challenges Syria’s new regime faces in appeasing disenfranchised groups, especially those that remain heavily armed. —Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN, 9 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1818, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for disenfranchised

• americanized
• anathematized
• collateralized
• contextualized
• conventionalized
• demilitarized
• demineralized
• departmentalized
• industrialised
• industrialized
• materialised
• materialized