Definition

1. Verb (transitive):
   • To take something away from someone or something; to prevent from having or keeping something: The core meaning involves removing or withholding something that is needed, wanted, or normally possessed.
   • To remove from office or a position, especially a church office: A specific, formal usage related to removing someone from a position of authority or duty.

Usage and Examples

• Basic Usage (To take away or prevent from having):

  • A serious accident could deprive you of your livelihood. (It could take away your ability to earn a living.)
  • The new law will not deprive citizens of their fundamental rights. (It will not take away those rights.)
  • The tree's thick leaves deprive the grass beneath of sunlight. (They prevent the grass from getting sunlight.)

• Specific Usage (To remove from office):

  • The bishop was deprived of his benefice. (He was officially removed from his church office and its income.)

Advanced Usage and Patterns

• Common Construction: The verb deprive is almost always used with the preposition "of" to form the pattern "deprive someone/something of something."

  • The war deprived the population of basic necessities.
  • He felt deprived of a normal childhood.

• Passive Voice: Frequently used in the passive voice to emphasize the state of lacking something.

  • The children are deprived of proper education.
  • Sleep-deprived students often struggle to concentrate.

Variants and Related Words

• Deprivation (noun): The state of being deprived; a lack or loss.

  • The deprivation of liberty is a serious matter.
  • They suffered from severe sleep deprivation.

• Deprived (adjective): Lacking the necessities of life or adequate resources; disadvantaged.

  • The charity helps children from deprived backgrounds.

Synonyms

• Strip: To remove everything (often property, rights, titles) completely and often forcefully.
  • The court stripped him of his assets.
• Divest: A more formal term for depriving, especially of rights, property, or authority.
  • The company was divested of its overseas holdings.
• Dispossess: To deprive someone of land, property, or a home.
  • Many families were dispossessed during the conflict.

Antonyms

• Provide: To make available for use; to supply.
• Endow: To provide with a quality, ability, or asset.
• Furnish: To provide or supply.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• To be deprived of: The standard idiomatic phrase indicating a state of lack.
  • No one should be deprived of clean water.
• Culturally deprived: (Sometimes considered dated or judgmental) Lacking in cultural experiences or advantages.
  • The report discussed programs for so-called culturally deprived youth.

Verb

1. take away
2. keep from having, keeping, or obtaining
3. take away possessions from someone
   • The Nazis stripped the Jews of all their assets