disenfranchise

verb

dis·​en·​fran·​chise ˌdis-in-ˈfran-ˌchīz 

disenfranchised; disenfranchising; disenfranchises

transitive verb

: to deprive of a franchise, of a legal right, or of some privilege or immunity

especially : to deprive of the right to vote

disenfranchising the poor and elderly

disenfranchisement

ˌdis-in-ˈfran-ˌchīz-mənt 

-chəz-

noun

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What Does It Mean to Disenfranchise Someone?

Disenfranchise first appeared in English in the 17th century, preceded for a period of some 200 years by the now uncommon word disfranchise. Though both words are, rather obviously, related to franchise, they have nothing to do with that word’s current sense “a team that is a member of a professional sports league." The original meaning of franchise was “freedom from servitude or restraint.” Although disenfranchise does broadly signify depriving someone of any of a number of legal rights, it is most often used today of withholding the right to vote, or of the diminished social or political status of a marginalized group.

Examples of disenfranchise in a Sentence

They disenfranchised poor people by making property ownership a requirement for registering to vote.

Recent Examples on the Web

Advertisement Kansas provides a cautionary tale about how pursuing an election concern that in fact is extremely rare risks disenfranchising a far greater number of people who are legally entitled to vote. —John Hanna, Los Angeles Times, 29 Dec. 2024

Engelbrecht and True the Vote have effectively tried to disenfranchise voters by claiming that voter rolls are filled with phony voter registrations. —David Gilbert, WIRED, 4 Nov. 2024

Tennessee disenfranchises a higher percentage of its voting-age population than any other state. —Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 4 Nov. 2024

His followers, many of whom were lower-middle class pious Muslims disenfranchised by Turkey’s staunch secularist power circles at the time, made up a movement called Hizmet. —Jessie Yeung, CNN, 21 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

disenfranchise

verb

dis·​en·​fran·​chise ˌdis-ᵊn-ˈfran-ˌchīz 

: to deprive of a legal right

especially : to deprive of the right to vote

disenfranchisement

-ˌchīz-mənt 

-chəz-

noun

Legal Definition

disenfranchise

transitive verb

dis·​en·​fran·​chise ˌdis-ᵊn-ˈfran-ˌchīz 

disenfranchised; disenfranchising

: disfranchise

disenfranchisement noun