How to Use disinherit in a Sentence

disinherit

verb
  • She threatened to disinherit her son and leave him penniless.
  • Those with substantial assets can use threats of disinheriting their kids to try to force them into doing their bidding.
    — Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes, 20 Dec. 2024
  • This hurricane disinherited the meek, who were supposed to inherit the earth.
    — By Michael Browning, miamiherald, 25 Aug. 2015
  • But in a twist worthy of a telenovela, Rivera disinherited Chiquis just two months before her death.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 26 June 2024
  • Remember that among the disinherited there’s a mystic language.
    — Nancy Princenthal, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2016
  • As an only son, he was essentially disinherited from his mother’s legacy.
    — Chioma Nnadi, Vogue, 20 Oct. 2017
  • This presents a similar dilemma to the wife disinheriting her husband in a preceding discussion.
    — Martin Shenkman, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024
  • Political differences are also not a reason to disinherit a child.
    — Christine Fletcher, Forbes, 28 June 2021
  • As an alternative to dower and curtesy, many states instead follow a similar practice known as elective share, De-Witt said. Also known as spousal or statutory share, elective share statutes are meant to prevent a spouse from being disinherited.
    — Josh Snyder, Arkansas Online, 15 Oct. 2023
  • Jane’s son Edward was at best a useless boy-king, and at worst a divisive religious extremist who disinherited his sisters.
    — Anne Thériault, Longreads, 25 May 2018
  • Many states have laws in place protecting a surviving spouse from being disinherited, so your father’s wife could claim up to half of the value of the house, regardless of your father’s will.
    — Amy Dickinson, The Denver Post, 26 Mar. 2017
  • But upon learning that his uncle had disinherited two of his children for marrying non-Jews, Lieberman got the will revised.
    — Peter Beinart, The Atlantic, 19 May 2017
  • The rest of the verdict was for a series of moves through which Roberta Dickson essentially disinherited Shook.
    — Andrew Wolfson, The Courier-Journal, 26 July 2017
  • When Franklin’s will was read in 1790, William discovered that he had essentially been disinherited all over again.
    — Stacy Schiff, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2025
  • At the beginning, he had been reviled and disinherited by his harsh warrior father Randyll Tarly, who sent him to the Night's Watch where he was mocked and abused.
    — Bill Keveney, USA TODAY, 13 Aug. 2017
  • His mother was born into Rome’s commercial bourgeoisie, but she had essentially been disinherited, nose-diving into the working class with a pair of children to raise.
    — Andrea Bajani, New Yorker, 7 June 2026
  • But Larry’s third daughter, Caroline, has her doubts—an attitude that infuriates him and leads to his decision to disinherit her.
    — Dinitia Smith, WSJ, 6 May 2022
  • If Wallace and Klemmer were declared to be in violation and disinherited, their right as beneficiaries would skip them and go to their children.
    — Ryan O’Halloran, The Denver Post, 13 Sep. 2019
  • Keryn Redstone has asserted that she has been disinherited of $6 million and potentially $1 billion more.
    — Emily Steel, New York Times, 18 Aug. 2016
  • Some grown children are opposed to their aged parents’ remarriage for fear that they will be disinherited, or that the new partner will take charge of end-of-life medical decisions that would otherwise be left to the children.
    — Deborah Carr, CNN, 25 Mar. 2023
  • For speaking honestly in King Lear, Cordelia is disinherited and then executed by her lying sisters.
    — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2024
  • Crucially, Poe wrote his story in poverty in Baltimore after being disinherited by his wealthy stepfather and while his wife was dying of tuberculosis.
    — Megan O’Grady, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2020
  • In the end, Erin received none of that money; Wood disinherited Erin and then died by suicide in February 2023, nearly two years after she was shot.
    — Chris Spargo, People.com, 8 Aug. 2025
  • According to court documents, Nupson’s mother considered disinheriting her because of her personal problems.
    — Bob Fernandez, Philly.com, 26 Feb. 2018
  • James, Lydia, and their Aunt Ophelia (Dagny Dewath) immediately suspect foul play, since Cordelia would never disinherit her children.
    — Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 1 Dec. 2025
  • Famous disinherited murderers include Lyle and Erik Menendez, the Californians known as the Menendez brothers.
    — Naomi Cahn, The Conversation, 22 Dec. 2025
  • Stepchildren are not automatically considered legal heirs unless they are legally adopted, so they must be specifically named in estate planning documents or risk being unintentionally disinherited.
    — Medora Lee, USA Today, 8 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disinherit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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