defrocking

verb

present participle of defrock
as in deposing
to remove from a position of prominence or power (as a throne) the movie's director was defrocked for going way over budget

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for defrocking
  1. deposing
  2. sacking
  3. dismissing
Verb
  • Successfully deposing the Mad King, The Rebellion leads to the downfall of House Targaryen.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 25 July 2026
  • Hamad himself seized control after deposing his father, Sheikh Khalifa, in a bloodless palace coup in 1995.
    — Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2026
Definition of deposing
Verb
  • Looking toward the opposite bench after sacking the quarterback is not something that should’ve cost the Chicago Bears 15 yards and a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021, and yet this is a thing that happened.
    — Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Whereas owners previously diffused negative situations by sacking a head coach, changing a sporting director or someone prominent within the department can now have a similar effect.
    — Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of sacking
Verb
  • William Roberson Anyone dismissing the Slingshot (in any form) on practicality grounds is missing the point by a light year or two - the Slingshot makes a Miata seem like a spacious minivan.
    — William Roberson, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • She was especially hurt that some of the people who criticized Cox most harshly, dismissing him as craven and disingenuous, were those who had the closest relationships with him.
    — McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of dismissing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

defrocked
defrocking
defrocks
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Defrocking.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/defrocking. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 4
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All