displace
verb
dis·place (ˌ)dis-ˈplās 
di-ˈsplās
displaced; displacing; displaces
transitive verb
1
a
: to remove from the usual or proper place
specifically : to expel or force to flee from home or homeland
displaced persons
b
: to remove from an office, status, or job
c
obsolete : to drive out : banish
2
a
: to move physically out of position
a floating object displaces water
b
: to take the place of (as in a chemical reaction) : supplant
displaceable
(ˌ)dis-ˈplā-sə-bəl
adjective di-ˈsplā-
Synonyms
- budge
- dislocate
- disturb
- move
- relocate
- remove
- reposition
- shift
- transfer
- transpose
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
The war has displaced thousands of people. The hurricane displaced most of the town's residents. The closing of the factory has displaced many workers. farming practices that displace large amounts of soil
Recent Examples on the Web Taken together, Disneyland is designed to displace us and to transport us to a land of imagination. 
Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2022 Probably the best thing to have is a method of watering that doesn’t disturb your plants or displace them while growing. Jennifer Konerman, Sunset Magazine, 30 Mar. 2022 In order to film parenthood, directors Mills and Gyllenhaal displace it, making their stories not about sons and daughters but nephews, half-strangers, other people’s children. Jo Livingstone, The New Republic, 7 Jan. 2022 These experiments add substantially to our understanding of the fitness of variants and how one virus can displace another. William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 25 Aug. 2022 He’s been described as a guy who plays like a bull in a China shop, and one who already has good hand control and can easily displace opposing lineman. Ashley Bastock, cleveland, 19 July 2022 But at this point, the idea that artistic AI tools will displace workers from creative jobs—in the way that people sometimes describe robots replacing factory workers—appears to be an oversimplification. Wired, 14 July 2022 The second phase of the development was supposed to displace the Eaddys, whose family has lived for decades in a three-story rowhome at the intersection of North Carrollton Avenue and Sarah Ann Street. Giacomo Bologna, Baltimore Sun, 18 July 2022 In this century, flooding and sea level rise could displace anywhere from 150 million to one billion people. Taras Grescoe, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 July 2022 See More
Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2022 Probably the best thing to have is a method of watering that doesn’t disturb your plants or displace them while growing. Jennifer Konerman, Sunset Magazine, 30 Mar. 2022 In order to film parenthood, directors Mills and Gyllenhaal displace it, making their stories not about sons and daughters but nephews, half-strangers, other people’s children. Jo Livingstone, The New Republic, 7 Jan. 2022 These experiments add substantially to our understanding of the fitness of variants and how one virus can displace another. William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 25 Aug. 2022 He’s been described as a guy who plays like a bull in a China shop, and one who already has good hand control and can easily displace opposing lineman. Ashley Bastock, cleveland, 19 July 2022 But at this point, the idea that artistic AI tools will displace workers from creative jobs—in the way that people sometimes describe robots replacing factory workers—appears to be an oversimplification. Wired, 14 July 2022 The second phase of the development was supposed to displace the Eaddys, whose family has lived for decades in a three-story rowhome at the intersection of North Carrollton Avenue and Sarah Ann Street. Giacomo Bologna, Baltimore Sun, 18 July 2022 In this century, flooding and sea level rise could displace anywhere from 150 million to one billion people. Taras Grescoe, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 July 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
probably from Middle French desplacer, from des- dis- + place place
First Known Use
1549, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Kids Definition
displace
verb
dis·place dis-ˈplās
displaced; displacing
1
: to remove from the usual or proper place
The fire displaced many forest animals.
2
: to take the place of : replace
Chess displaced checkers as his favorite game.
3
: to move out of position
A floating object displaces water.
Medical Definition
displace
transitive verb
dis·place (ˈ)dis-ˈplās
displaced; displacing
1
a
: to remove from the usual or proper place
in heterotopia the gray portions of the cord are displaced so that patches of gray matter are scattered among the bundles of white fibers R. L. Cecil et al.
R. L. Cecil et al. b
: to shift (an emotion or behavior) from a maladaptive or unacceptable object or form of outlet to a more adaptive or acceptable one
displace punishable behavior by directing it towards things that cannot punish B. F. Skinner
B. F. Skinner2
: to set free from chemical combination by taking the place of
zinc displaces the hydrogen of dilute acids
3
: to subject to percolation
displace
verb
1
as in to remove
to change the place or position of the slight tremor displaced the dishes on the shelves, but didn't do any real damage Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- remove
- relocate
- move
- transfer
- shift
- disturb
- replace
- transport
- reposition
- budge
- transpose
- convey
- carry
- dislocate
- supplant
- haul
- transmit
- supersede
- alter
- drive
- modify
- lug
- cart
- revise
- transplant
- tote
- rework
- vary
- bear
- remodel
- remake
- redo
- refashion
- revamp
- make over
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- stabilize
- secure
- set
- freeze
- anchor
- fix
- entrench
- moor
- imbed
- root
- embed
- intrench
- implant
- lodge
- ingrain
- engrain
2
as in to relegate
to force to leave a country World War II displaced people all over Europe Synonyms & Similar Words
- relegate
- banish
- deport
- exile
- evict
- eliminate
- transport
- exclude
- expel
- eject
- dismiss
- expatriate
- oust
- spurn
- run out
- cast out
- dispossess
- kick out
- excommunicate
- expulse
- ostracize
- reject
- repudiate
- throw out
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- receive
- accept
- naturalize
- repatriate
- admit
- entertain
- shelter
- take in
- harbor
- house
3
as in to replace
to take the place of inefficient methods displaced by newer ones Synonyms & Similar Words
- replace
- supersede
- supplant
- substitute
- relieve
- usurp
- preempt
- displant
- cut out
4
as in to depose
to remove from a position of prominence or power (as a throne) the CEO was summarily displaced after the hostile takeover Synonyms & Similar Words
- depose
- topple
- unseat
- deprive
- sack
- dismiss
- dethrone
- oust
- unmake
- banish
- defrock
- supplant
- can
- remove
- usurp
- unthrone
- uncrown
- eject
- fire
- subvert
- expel
- overthrow
- muster out
- retire
- extrude
- cashier
- cast out
- chase
- rout
- discharge
- run off
- throw out
- bounce
- drum (out)
- boot (out)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- initiate
- crown
- install
- appoint
- invest
- designate
- inaugurate
- enthrone
- elect
- induct
- baptize
- instate
- throne
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of displace are replace, supersede, and supplant. While all these words mean "to put out of a usual or proper place or into the place of another," displace implies an ousting or dislodging.
war had displaced thousands
The synonyms replace and displace are sometimes interchangeable, but replace implies a filling of a place once occupied by something lost, destroyed, or no longer usable or adequate.
replaced the broken window
In some situations, the words supersede and displace are roughly equivalent. However, supersede implies replacing a person or thing that has become superannuated, obsolete, or otherwise inferior.
the new edition supersedes all previous ones
While the synonyms supplant and displace are close in meaning, supplant implies either a dispossessing or usurping of another's place, possessions, or privileges or an uprooting of something and its replacement with something else.
was abruptly supplanted in her affections by another
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