disenfranchise

/ˌdɪs.ɪnˈfɹæn.t͡ʃaɪz/

Etymology

From dis- + enfranchise.

disenfranchise means to deprive someone of a franchise, generally of the right to vote. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 84 out of 100.

disenfranchise is pronounced /ˌdɪs.ɪnˈfɹæn.t͡ʃaɪz/.

Why “disenfranchise” is a great word

DISENFRANCHISE — [Verb] To deprive someone of a legal right or privilege, especially the right to vote. From the English prefix dis- (expressing reversal or removal) + enfranchise (from Old French enfranchir, meaning 'to set free, grant rights', itself from en- (in) + franc (free)). Unlike disqualify, which bars from a particular contest, or oppress, which crushes under a sustained weight, to disenfranchise is to perform a precise, surgical excision of civic being. It is the stricken name on the voter roll, the ballot box placed miles from the only bus line, and the bureaucratic error that quietly erases a name from the rolls—a quiet violence of absence, where a citizen is made into a specter in their own country.

verb

To deprive someone of a franchise, generally of the right to vote.“Harris’s victory comes 55 years after the Voting Rights Act abolished laws that disenfranchised Black Americans, 36 years after the first woman ran on a presidential ticket and four years after Democrats were devastated by the defeat of Hillary Clinton”