uproot

1 of 2

verb

up·​root (ˌ)əp-ˈrüt  -ˈru̇t 

uprooted; uprooting; uproots

transitive verb

1

: to remove as if by pulling up

striving to uproot poverty

2

: to pull up by the roots

Many trees were uprooted by the storm.

3

: to displace from a country or traditional habitat

Taking the job would mean uprooting my family.

uprootedness noun

uprooter noun

uprootedness

2 of 2

noun

up·​root·​ed·​ness

: the state or quality of being uprooted

a sense of insecurity and uprootedness

—Dixon Wecter

Synonyms of uproot

Verb

• pry
• pull
• yank
• extract
• pluck

Choose the Right Synonym for uproot

exterminate, extirpate, eradicate, uproot mean to effect the destruction or abolition of something.

exterminate implies complete and immediate extinction by killing off all individuals.

exterminate cockroaches

extirpate implies extinction of a race, family, species, or sometimes an idea or doctrine by destruction or removal of its means of propagation.

many species have been extirpated from the area

eradicate implies the driving out or elimination of something that has established itself.

a campaign to eradicate illiteracy

uproot implies a forcible or violent removal and stresses displacement or dislodgment rather than immediate destruction.

the war uprooted thousands

Examples of uproot in a Sentence

Verb

Many trees were uprooted by the storm.

Will we ever be able to uproot racial prejudice?

Taking the job would mean uprooting my family.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The prologue starts in 1986 in Newfoundland with a family relocating, uprooting their lives in the most all-encompassing of ways, taking their entire home — propped up on a barge and steered by a lone motorboat — across a bay. — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026

Earlier this week, Yemen's military said its forces had uprooted Houthi fighters from the areas around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a Red Sea shipping chokepoint, and the port city of Mocha. — Frank Andrews, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2026

In 2019, when the husband’s work uprooted the family to Seattle, the pair kept the Eichler and rented it out, never quite thinking of the move as permanent. — Kristen Flanagan, Architectural Digest, 6 Oct. 2026

Among those who had been displaced, 70 percent had been uprooted three or more times. — Michael Robbins, Foreign Affairs, 2 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

circa 1620, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for uproot

• acute
• aleut
• astute
• beetroot
• breadfruit
• cheroot
• commute
• compute
• confute
• dilute
• dispute
• elute

Kids Definition

uproot

verb

up·​root (ˌ)ə-ˈprüt  -ˈpru̇t 

: to remove by or as if by pulling up by the roots

uproot a vine

families uprooted by war