What does ousting mean?
Ousting means forcing or removing someone from a position, institution, place, or competitive field. The word commonly describes political or organizational displacement, as when a committee ousts a chair or a governing body removes an official from office, but it can also refer to a company or product displacing rival businesses. Its force comes from the suggestion that the person or organization is being pushed out against resistance, whether through a formal decision, legal action, or competitive pressure. Ousting is more formal and dramatic than simply removing someone and often implies that the affected party held a significant role. In everyday use, it can also mean excluding or driving out an unwanted person, though those meanings are less common than the institutional and political senses.
verbTo force someone out of a position, place, organization, or other place of membership; to expel or remove them.
- To force someone out of a position, place, organization, or membership.
- To remove someone from a place or role, especially by legal, political, or organizational action.
- To supplant or exclude someone from a position of advantage or prominence.
"The board voted to oust the director after a series of financial irregularities."
"The committee spent the meeting ousting the former chair from the organization."
"New entrants quickly established themselves, ousting established firms from the market."
"The legal decision was widely interpreted as an attempt to oust the governor from office."
To oust someone is to remove them from a position of power or membership; the word can describe everything from a political leader leaving office to a group expelling a disruptive member.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does ousting come from?
The verb comes from Old French oster, meaning “to expel” or “drive out,” which was borrowed from Latin excludere, formed from ex- and claudere, “to close.” The Latin root also underlies words such as exclude, exclusion, and inclusive. The modern English sense developed from the general idea of putting someone out into a broader political and organizational use.
Related word forms
How ousting is actually used
This is a formal word with a strong implication of forceful or authorized removal. It is often used in political, institutional, legal, and competitive contexts.
Easily confused with ousting
Oust is the base verb meaning to force someone out, while ousting is its present participle and gerund form.
Evict usually implies removing a tenant or occupant from a property, whereas oust is broader and often concerns a position, role, or membership.