disempower

present singular third person disempowers · participle present disempowering · participle past disempowered · past disempowered

1. To strip power from (someone or some group), as:
   1. To remove morale or self-confidence from (someone or some group) to do something.

      A powerful head can sometimes disempower the teaching staff, and create among them a sort of passivity that is close to inertia.

      1990, Editors: Tim Brighouse and Bob Moon, Managing the National Curriculum, Harlow: Longman Group UK Ltd, page 97

      Synonyms: dishearten, dispirit, demoralize, demotivate, enervate · Antonyms: empower, hearten, inspire, motivate

   2. To remove authority or (official) confidence from (someone or some group) to do something (such as administer a state function), as by demoting, disestablishing, or unincorporating a group.

      The reformation disempowered the established church and thus roiled the aristocracy.

      Antonyms: empower, establish, install