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''disaffected'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260331180822-00-⌔

disaffected - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Verb

disaffected

  • simple past and past participle of disaffect

Adjective

disaffected (comparative more disaffected, superlative most disaffected)

  • Alienated or estranged, often with hostile effect.
    • ✤ Coordinate terms: disillusioned, disabused, fallen out of love
    • ✤ Near-synonyms: malcontent, resentful, disloyal, rebellious, vengeful
    • ✤ The main reason for this state of affairs is probably that, for the exceptionally able man who accepts the present order of society, a multitude of other avenues to influence and power are open, while to the disaffected and dissatisfied an intellectual career is the most promising path to both influence and the power to contribute to the achievement of his ideals.1
    • ✤ When, under the leadership of General Jeffrey Amherst, the British took possession of the French territories around the Great Lakes, they made a number of mistakes. They understaffed the forts and shortchanged their new Indian trading partners. Most of these errors resulted from Amherst’s low opinion of Natives. He thought them disorganized, weak, and worthless. Whereas the French treated the Indians as allies and urged, through diplomacy and trade, the creation of mutually beneficial alliances, the British treated Indians as a defeated people. […] Amherst’s general approach was desultory and his attitude derisive; he cut rations and instructed traders not to sell gunpowder to the Indians. Few French colonists made inroads into Indian territories, but the British came in waves. And finally, the great tribes of the East had enough. An alliance was forged between three different tribal regions: the Great Lakes tribes, consisting of the Ottawa, Ojibwe, Huron, and Potawatomi; the tribes from Illinois country to the west, made up of Miamis, Kickapoos, Mascoutens, Weas, and Piankashaws; and the tribes from the Ohio country, including Mingos, Shawnee, Wyandots, and Delaware. These came together largely under the leadership of the Ottawa chief Pontiac and Kiywasuta, a Seneca leader. The Seneca, having long supported the British, were disaffected. They threw in their lot, and their many warriors, with the tribes allied against the British [in Pontiac’s War].2
    • ✤ Joe Biden is making a clear attempt to appeal to disaffected Republicans and independent voters in the final weeks of the election, promising he’d be a president that would work hard not just for those who support him, but also for those who do not.3
  • (obsolete) Affected with disease.

Etymology

From disaffect + -ed.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA: /dɪsəˈfɛktɪd/
  • Audio (Southern England): 🔊

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

  1. 1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, page 427: ↩

  2. 2019 [2012], David Treuer, “Chapter 1”, in Rez Life: An Indian’s Journey Through Reservation Life, Atlantic Monthly Press, →ISBN: ↩

  3. 2020 October 10, Sarah Mucha, “‘A moment to put country above party’: Biden makes appeal to disaffected Republican and independent voters”, in CNN ‎: ↩

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