displaced

IPA/dɪsplˈeɪst/
KK[dɪsplˈest]IPA/dɪsplˈeɪst/

displaced — adjective

1. no longer able to live in your own home or country because war, violence, or a n

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

no longer able to live in your own home or country because war, violence, or a natural event has made you leave

Example

Aid workers set up tents for families displaced by the floods in northern Bangladesh.

displaced + by + cause noun

Nearly two million people remain displaced from their villages after the long civil war.

displaced + from + place

Common collocations
  • displaced families
  • displaced children
  • internally displaced
  • displaced by war
  • displaced from their homes
Synonyms
  • uprooted

    similar meaning, often emphasises emotional loss of home

  • homeless

    broader; doesn't imply a forcing event

Antonyms
  • settled

    living securely in one place

Grammar Patterns

displaced + by + cause

displaced + from + place

Usage Note

Frequently passive or attributive (displaced people, displaced families). The cause is normally a war, conflict, disaster, or government action — not a personal choice to move.

Common Mistakes

I felt displaced after moving to a new city for work.
I felt out of place after moving to a new city for work.
'displaced' implies you were forced out by violence or disaster, not that you chose to move.

2. having lost your job because the work is now done by a machine, by another worke

2.adjectiveC1
Definition

having lost your job because the work is now done by a machine, by another worker, or by a change at the company

Example

Élise runs a training programme for factory workers displaced by automation.

displaced + by + automation/technology

The report estimated that fifty thousand displaced miners would need new careers within five years.

attributive: displaced + worker noun

Common collocations
  • displaced workers
  • displaced employees
  • displaced by automation
  • displaced by technology
Synonyms
  • redundant

    British English; common term for losing a job because the position is cut

  • laid-off

    more common in everyday US speech

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

displaced + by + replacement

Usage Note

Usually attributive (displaced workers, displaced employees). Often appears in news, policy, and economics writing about technology change or industry decline.

3. pushed or knocked away from the spot where something normally sits or belongs

3.adjectiveC1
Definition

pushed or knocked away from the spot where something normally sits or belongs

Example

Adina noticed that one of the displaced floor tiles in the kitchen had cracked overnight.

attributive: displaced + object noun

The mechanic showed Valentina that a displaced engine belt was causing the strange noise.

Common collocations
  • displaced tile
  • displaced bone
  • slightly displaced
  • displaced fragment
Synonyms
  • dislodged

    stronger; suggests knocked loose by force

  • misaligned

    out of the correct line or position

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

displaced + from + position

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense describes physical objects (tiles, bones, parts), not people. Common in mechanical, geological, and medical writing.

displaced — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe people who have lost a settled home, but they differ in cause and tone. 'Displaced' is the neutral, news-style word: it tells you someone was forced out by war, disaster, or government action, but it does not say where they now live. 'Uprooted' carries more emotional weight — it focuses on the painful loss of community and roots, not just the physical move. 'Homeless' is the broadest: it simply says a person has no home, with no claim about why; a homeless person in a city may never have been forced out at all. 'Refugee' is the most specific: it normally refers to someone who has crossed an international border to escape danger and has legal status. So we say 'displaced families inside Syria' but 'Syrian refugees in Germany'.

displaced ↗uprooted ↗homeless ↗refugee ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • internally displaced person
  • displaced by conflict

Prepositions

Etymology

Old FrenchMiddle FrenchEnglish

From the verb 'displace', which was built in the 1500s from the prefix 'dis-' (meaning 'apart' or 'away') plus 'place'. The pattern follows Old French 'desplacer', formed the same way. The earliest English use described physically moving something out of its proper spot; the modern senses about losing a home or a job grew out of that core idea over the following centuries.