Definition of deportnext

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb deport contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of deport are banish, exile, and transport. While all these words mean "to remove by authority from a state or country," deport implies sending out of the country an alien who has illegally entered or whose presence is judged inimical to the public welfare.

illegal aliens will be deported

When might banish be a better fit than deport?

In some situations, the words banish and deport are roughly equivalent. However, banish implies compulsory removal from a country not necessarily one's own.

banished for seditious activities

When is it sensible to use exile instead of deport?

The synonyms exile and deport are sometimes interchangeable, but exile may imply compulsory removal or an enforced or voluntary absence from one's own country.

a writer who exiled himself for political reasons

When is transport a more appropriate choice than deport?

The meanings of transport and deport largely overlap; however, transport implies sending a convicted criminal to an overseas penal colony.

a convict who was transported to Australia

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of deport Romero León is among around 6,000 Cuban nationals deported to Mexico under an informal, unwritten agreement between the two governments. Los Angeles Times, 30 Apr. 2026 Israel arrested, detained and later deported the participants, who claimed Israeli authorities abused them while in detention. ABC News, 30 Apr. 2026 In January, after her daughter was deported, Mariela realized the fraudsters had cheated her out of more than $18,000 over three months. Naisha Roy, ProPublica, 29 Apr. 2026 Carrasco Benitez, who is a Mexican citizen, agreed to be deported after serving his sentence, according to the prosecution. Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 29 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for deport
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deport
Verb
  • Andrew and Epstein cast a shadow Raising the stakes is the shadow of the king’s younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who has been stripped of his royal title of Prince Andrew, exiled from public life and put under police investigation over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
    Jill Lawless, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Raising the stakes is the shadow of the king’s younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who has been stripped of his royal title of Prince Andrew, exiled from public life and put under police investigation over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.
    ABC News, ABC News, 27 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • In a decision dated April 23, Swiss federal prosecutor Annina Scherrer noted that the Vatican tribunal itself had acquitted Crasso and his company and fund of the same charges definitively and shelved the Swiss case.
    ABC News, ABC News, 30 Apr. 2026
  • More recently, he has been acquitted of other legal woes.
    Lori Waxman, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • By the end of that show, the anxiety and isolation that freight life in the closet had burned away, leaving a happy, hopeful ending in place of familiar narrative disaster; love is found, secrecy is banished, and all is well.
    Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Something’s lost in the translation, but with dazzling costumes, hyper-energetic singing and dancing and joyful spirit filling the Nederlander, quibbles end up banished beyond the flats.
    Greg Evans, Deadline, 20 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • That projection is based on the player’s performance in each metric over the last three seasons (five for goalies), weighted for recency where more recent seasons carry more significance and regressed to the mean.
    Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
  • The Moon amplifies Jupiter, helping your words land clearly and carry weight.
    Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 27 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Qualifying for the Champions League could boost revenue by a few hundred million; being relegated could cost a team an equal (or much greater) amount.
    Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The club was relegated in 2019, the first time in 68 years.
    Tom Bogert, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Beginning in elementary school, students are socialized to behave this way — in the classroom, in the school yard or on a playing field.
    Stephen Wade, Chicago Tribune, 30 Apr. 2026
  • In other words, the cell behaves like a nanocomputer and a genome behaves like software.
    Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 30 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Then, to their confusion, they were evicted.
    R.A. Schuetz, Houston Chronicle, 1 May 2026
  • The story of Javier Chocobar, a member of the indigenous Chuchagasta community in northwest Argentina’s Tucumán Province, who in 2009 tried to defend himself and his people from being forcibly evicted from their land by a local landowner and two former police officers.
    Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 1 May 2026
Verb
  • These measures accomplished these goals by granting this body extraordinary powers to restrain development.
    Steven Greenhut, Oc Register, 1 May 2026
  • One grabbed an arm and held it behind his back, another raised the man’s other arm above his head, while a third restrained his ankles, according to the video.
    Darrell Smith May 1, Sacbee.com, 1 May 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Deport.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deport. Accessed 2 May. 2026.

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