Dictionary

defrock en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /diˈfɹɑk/ (General-American)
• (General-American) audio
• /diːˈfɹɒk/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From French défroquer, from dé- + froc. By surface analysis, de- + frock.

Meanings

1. (literally) To divest of a frock.
2. (figuratively) To formally remove the rights and authority of a member of the clergy.
   • The Vatican has defrocked the anti-abortion US priest Frank Pavone for what it said were “blasphemous communications on social media” as well as “persistent disobedience” of his bishop. 2022 December 18, AP, “Anti-abortion US priest Frank Pavone defrocked by Vatican”, in The Guardian:
   • The defrocked priest may no longer perform rites.
3. (broadly) To formally remove the rights and authority of someone, e.g. a government official or a medical practitioner.
   • There are refugees and black marketers, defrocked bankers and resistance fighters, gamblers, floozies, French colonial policemen, American and Spanish entertainers, and, eventually, Nazi officers (who in reality never set foot in Casablanca). 2012 March 19, David Denby, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s: “Casablanca” on the Big Screen”, in The New Yorker:

Forms

Coordinates

uncloak

Synonyms

unfrock · disfrock · unordain · unfrock · disfrock

Translations (6)

hu kitaszít (a papi rendből) (remove the rights of a member of clergy) · ru расстригать (remove the rights of a member of clergy) · fr défroquer (remove the rights of a member of clergy) · el αποσχηματίζω (remove the rights of a member of clergy) · sv avkraga (remove the rights of a member of clergy) · mk распопи (remove the rights of a member of clergy)