deportee

IPA/ˌdiːpɔːˈtiː/
KK[dˌipɔrtˈi]IPA/ˌdiːpɔːrˈtiː/

deportee — noun

  • deporteesingular
  • deporteesplural

1. someone who a government forces to leave a country, either because they lack leg

1.nounB2
Definition

someone who a government forces to leave a country, either because they lack legal permission to stay or because a court has ordered their removal

Example

Tamar was listed as a deportee after her student visa expired.

passive: be listed as a deportee

The deportee waited in a small room at the airport for seven hours.

Synonyms
  • exile

    an exile may leave voluntarily or for political reasons, not necessarily by a legal deportation order

  • expelled person

    more general; can refer to removal from a school or organisation, not only from a country

Antonyms
  • asylum seeker

    someone asking to enter and stay in a country for protection, the opposite situation

Common Mistakes

The deportee fled the war and crossed the border at night.
The refugee fled the war and crossed the border at night.
A deportee is forced out by a government; a refugee chooses to flee from danger.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

A deportee is specifically someone whom a government legally orders to leave the country, usually because of immigration violations or a court ruling. An exile, by contrast, may leave for political reasons — sometimes by choice, sometimes under pressure — but not necessarily through a formal legal process. A refugee flees their home country out of fear of war or persecution and seeks protection elsewhere; their departure is an act of survival, not a legal penalty. An expelled person is the broadest term: you can be expelled from a school, a club, or a country, so it lacks the specific immigration-law weight that deportee carries. In short: a deportee faces a legal removal order; an exile faces political pressure; a refugee faces danger; an expelled person faces any kind of forced ejection.

exile ↗refugee ↗expelled person

Common collocations

Nouns

  • deportee status
  • deportee case

Phrases

  • listed as a deportee
  • named as a deportee
  • treated as a deportee

Prepositions

  • deportee from
  • deportee to

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Formed from the verb deport (itself from Latin deportare, meaning 'to carry away') plus the suffix -ee, which marks the person who receives or undergoes the action. The word entered English in the late 19th century as immigration laws became more formalised.

First known use

1865

1865, in the meaning defined above