Synonyms

desegregate

American

[dee-seg-ri-geyt] / diˈsɛg rɪˌgeɪt /

verb (used with object)

desegregated, desegregating

to eliminate racial segregation in.

to desegregate all schools.

verb (used without object)

desegregated, desegregating

to eliminate racial segregation; to integrate at an institutional level members of different communities without regard to skin color.

desegregate British

/ diːˈsɛɡrɪˌɡeɪt /

verb

to end racial segregation in (a school or other public institution)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

desegregation noun
desegregationist noun

Etymology

Origin of desegregate

First recorded in 1950–55; de- + segregate

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Since his appointment in 2017, Saudi Arabia has reined in its religious police, lifted a ban on women driving, allowed restaurants and cafes to desegregate by gender and promoted cinema and music events.

From The Wall Street Journal

At 14, she was one of the so-called Clinton 12, the first Black students to desegregate a Southern public school following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v.

From Los Angeles Times

The sit-ins to desegregate restaurants and cafeterias that were now taking place across the South had originated in Greensboro.

From Literature

When Southern governors refused to desegregate schools during Jim Crow is now widely understood as one of the most shameful periods in our history.

From Salon

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt desegregated the Army after World War II. Later, women were given broader roles, including, now, in combat.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023