Antonyms for possess
pəˈzɛspos·sess

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:4.0 / 1 vote

1. possessverb

   Synonyms:
   seise

2. possessverb

   Synonyms:
   inhold

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.8 / 5 votes

1. possess

   Have is the most general word, and is applied to whatever belongs to or is connected with one; a man has a head or a head-ache, a fortune or an opinion, a friend or an enemy; he has time, or has need; he may be said to have what is his own, what he has borrowed, what has been entrusted to him, or what he has stolen. To possess a thing is to have the ownership with control and enjoyment of it. To hold is to have in one's hand, or securely in one's control; a man holds his friend's coat for a moment, or he holds a struggling horse; he holds a promissory note, or holds an office. To own is to have the right of property in; to possess is to have that right in actual exercise; to occupy is to have possession and use, with some degree of permanency, with or without ownership. A man occupies his own house or a room in a hotel; a man may own a farm of which he is not in possession because a tenant occupies it and is determined to hold it; the proprietor owns the property, but the tenant is in possession. To be in possession differs from possess in that to possess denotes both right and fact, while to be in possession denotes simply the fact with no affirmation as to the right. To have reason is to be endowed with the faculty; to be in possession of one's reason denotes that the faculty is in actual present exercise.

   Synonyms:
   be in possession of, be possessed of, have, hold, occupy, own

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. possess

   Antonyms:
   abandon, renounce, abjure, surrender, lose, forfeit, resign

   Synonyms:
   occupy, enjoy, have, hold, entertain, own

Matched Categories

1. • Dominate
   • Have

Princeton's WordNetRate these antonyms:1.0 / 2 votes

1. possessverb

   have as an attribute, knowledge, or skill

   "he possesses great knowledge about the Middle East"

   Synonyms:
   own, have

2. own, have, possessverb

   have ownership or possession of

   "He owns three houses in Florida"; "How many cars does she have?"

   Synonyms:
   get, have, feature, deliver, suffer, accept, ingest, cause, experience, hold, let, sustain, give birth, take in, give, birth, receive, consume, own, take, throw, bear, have got, induce, make, stimulate

3. possessverb

   enter into and control, as of emotions or ideas

   "What possessed you to buy this house?"; "A terrible rage possessed her"

   Synonyms:
   own, have

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. possessverb

   Synonyms:
   own, have, hold, occupy, seize, take, appropriate

How to use possess in a sentence?

1. Juvenal:

   All wish to possess knowledge, but few, comparatively speaking, are willing to pay the price.

2. Adam Jentleson:

   This generation may possess the ability to get out of the box, it's up to the next generation to build a better box.

3. Janet Jackson:

   Dreams can become a reality when we possess a vision that is characterized by the willingness to work hard, a desire for excellence and a belief in our right and our responsibility to be equal members of society.

4. Manu Mannoor:

   As I mentioned, bacteria possess many other properties beside the electricity production, for example there are plenty bacteria in the human body that perform many functions.

5. Samuel Taylor Coleridge:

   The wise only possess ideas the greater part of mankind are possessed by them.

How to pronounce possess?

How to say possess in sign language?

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