denaturalise
denaturalise — verb
- denaturalisepresent simple I / you / we / they
- denaturalises3rd person singular
- denaturalising-ing form
- denaturalisedpast simple
1. to officially cancel the citizenship that was granted earlier to someone who was
to officially cancel the citizenship that was granted earlier to someone who was not born in that country, usually because of fraud or illegal behaviour
Samira was denaturalised after officials found she had entered the country on a fake passport.
passive voice: be denaturalised after [reason]
The court ruled that Elena could not be denaturalised for a minor paperwork error.
Under the new policy, the government denaturalised Kofi after discovering he had hidden a criminal conviction.
Eight years after naturalisation, Yuki was denaturalised when officials proved she had lied about her criminal record on the application.
- strip of citizenship
more descriptive; common in news reporting
- revoke citizenship
focuses on the cancellation itself rather than the legal process
- expatriate
broader; can also mean to withdraw from one's own country voluntarily
- naturalise
the opposite process: granting citizenship to a foreign-born person
- grant citizenship
descriptive opposite
文法句型
be denaturalised
denaturalise + direct object
用法筆記
Usually used in the passive voice (be denaturalised), especially in legal contexts. The subject of the active verb is typically a government or official body. Only citizens who gained their citizenship through naturalisation can be denaturalised — native-born citizens cannot.
常見錯誤
2. to demonstrate or argue that a belief, practice, or institution is not a timeles
to demonstrate or argue that a belief, practice, or institution is not a timeless natural truth but something created within a specific cultural and historical setting
Mei-Lin's essay denaturalises the common belief that jealousy is a universal human emotion.
denaturalises + belief / concept
The professor denaturalises marriage by tracing how its meaning has shifted across centuries.
Anthropologists denaturalise the habit of eating with utensils by showing that many cultures eat perfectly well with their hands.
Diego's research denaturalises the view that free markets are a natural human arrangement.
- historicise
similar academic sense; emphasises showing how something developed over time
- deconstruct
broader; focused on taking apart assumptions and hidden oppositions
- demystify
more general; means to make something clearer or less confusing
- naturalise
to present something as natural and inevitable
- essentialise
to treat something as having an unchanging, fixed essence
文法句型
denaturalise + abstract noun phrase
seek to denaturalise + concept
用法筆記
Common in academic writing, especially sociology, anthropology, and critical theory. The object is always an abstract noun (belief, idea, institution, practice). Distinguish from sense 1: sense 2 deals with ideas and social structures, not legal citizenship.