dislocation

D2I1S1L1O1C3A1T1I1O1N1
UK/dɪsləʊˈkeɪʃn̩/

noun

The act of displacing, or the state of being displaced.

Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

noundislocation (countable and uncountable, plural dislocations)

plural dislocations

  1. countableuncountableThe act of displacing, or the state of being displaced.

    Let's hope someone can get an original Spanish print for U.S. distribution; the redubbed Mexican version shown at the Festival does a disservice to the fine performances by its slight (but annoying) dislocations of sound and image.

    1986 February 1, Nicholas Deutsch, “7th Annual New York Gay Film Festival”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 28, page 8
    2 more examples

    As mentioned last month in the article "Railways and the War," the emergency timetables were planned in view of the possibility of serious dislocation of transport by air raids in the early days of the war, and were regarded as the minimum service which would keep the activities of the country alive.

    1939 December, Mercury, “The British War Emergency Timetables, October, 1939”, in Railway Magazine, page 373

    At large stations such as Euston and Birmingham New Street, it is essential to compress the station reconstruction, re-signalling and overhead wiring into the shortest possible time, not only to minimise the period of traffic dislocation but also to ensure completion by the time the remainder of the lines is electrified.

    1961 December, “Planning the London Midland main-line electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 722
  2. countableuncountablegeographyThe displacement of parts of rocks or portions of strata from the situation which they originally occupied.
  3. countableuncountableThe act of dislocating, or putting out of joint; also, the condition of being thus displaced.

    They used steroids to build strength but, more importantly, to recover from strains, pulls, dislocations.

    2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 162

    Synonyms: luxation

  4. countableuncountablematerials scienceA linear defect in a crystal lattice. Because dislocations can shift within the crystal lattice, they tend to weaken the material, compared to a perfect crystal.
  5. countableuncountablegrammarA sentence structure in which a constituent that could otherwise be either an argument or an adjunct of a clause occurs outside of and adjacent to the clause boundaries.
  6. countableuncountablegymnasticsIn men's gymnastics, a rotating of the shoulders when performing a backwards turn on the still rings. Many skills in acrobatics appear to involve dislocating a joint, when they actually do not.

    The practice of contortion can be divided into three categories: backbending, frontbending and dislocation.

    2016, Louis Patrick Leroux, Charles R. Batson, Cirque Global: Quebec's Expanding Circus Boundaries, McGill-Queen's Press, →ISBN, page 297

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe act of dislocating, or putting out of joint; also, the condition of being thus displaced.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nounan event that results in a displacement or discontinuity

Similar

nounthe act of disrupting an established order so it fails to continue

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Medieval Latindislocātiō
  2. Englishdislocation

From Middle English, from Old French, a borrowing from Medieval Latin dislocātiō, delocatio.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἐξάρθρησις
  • ἐξάρθρησις (exárthrēsis)dislocating of a joint
Arabic اِنْخِلَاع, خَلْع
  • اِنْخِلَاع (inḵilāʕ)dislocating of a joint
  • خَلْع (ḵalʕ)dislocating of a joint
Bulgarian изме́стване, изкъ́лчване
  • изме́стване (izméstvane)the act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • изкъ́лчване (izkắlčvane)dislocating of a joint
  • навя́хване (navjáhvane)dislocating of a joint
  • дислока́ция (dislokácija)a linear defect in a crystal lattice
Chinese Mandarin 脫位 /脱位, 脫臼 /脱臼
  • 脫位 /脱位 (tuōwèi)dislocating of a joint
  • 脫臼 /脱臼 (tuōjiù)dislocating of a joint
Czech přemístění, vykloubení
  • přemístěníthe act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • vykloubenídislocating of a joint
Dutch ontwrichting, luxatie
  • ontwrichtingdislocating of a joint
  • luxatiedislocating of a joint
Finnish siirtyminen, paikaltaan siirtyminen
  • siirtyminenthe act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • paikaltaan siirtyminenthe act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • sijoiltaanmenodislocating of a joint
  • dislokaatioa linear defect in a crystal lattice
  • siirrosa linear defect in a crystal lattice
French luxation
  • luxationdislocating of a joint
German Verrenkung, Luxation
  • Verrenkungdislocating of a joint
  • Luxationdislocating of a joint
Greek εξάρθρωση
  • εξάρθρωση (exárthrosi)dislocating of a joint
Hungarian ficam, kificamodás
  • ficamdislocating of a joint
  • kificamodásdislocating of a joint
  • kificamításdislocating of a joint
Indonesian dislokasi, dislokasi
  • dislokasithe act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • dislokasidislocating of a joint
  • urai sendidislocating of a joint
Italian dislocamento, ripartizione
  • dislocamentothe act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • ripartizionethe act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • lussazionedislocating of a joint
Japanese 脱臼, 断層
  • 脱臼 (dakkyū)dislocating of a joint
  • 断層 (dansō)dislocating of a joint
Korean 탈구
  • 탈구 (talgu)dislocating of a joint
Latin lūxus
  • lūxusdislocating of a joint
Norwegian Bokmål luksasjon
  • luksasjondislocating of a joint
Polish zwichnięcie
  • zwichnięciedislocating of a joint
Portuguese deslocamento, deslocação
  • deslocamentothe act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • deslocaçãothe act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • deslocamentodislocating of a joint
  • deslocaçãodislocating of a joint
  • luxaçãodislocating of a joint
Romanian luxație
  • luxațiedislocating of a joint
Russian смеще́ние, вы́вих
  • смеще́ние (smeščénije)the act of displacing or the state of being displaced
  • вы́вих (vývix)dislocating of a joint
Slovak vykĺbenie
  • vykĺbeniedislocating of a joint
Spanish luxación, dislocación
  • luxacióndislocating of a joint
  • dislocacióndislocating of a joint
  • lujacióndislocating of a joint
  • descoyuntamientodislocating of a joint
  • dislocaduradislocating of a joint
Swedish urledvridning, dislokation
  • urledvridningdislocating of a joint
  • dislokationdislocating of a joint
  • luxationdislocating of a joint
Tagalog pagkapiang
  • pagkapiangdislocating of a joint
Ukrainian ви́вих, звих
  • ви́вих (vývyx)dislocating of a joint
  • звих (zvyx)dislocating of a joint

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with dislocation

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

dislocation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dislocation

MLA

“dislocation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dislocation. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dislocation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dislocation.

Source: dislocation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.