Dictionary

unfriend en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈʌnfɹɛnd/ (UK, US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English unfreend, onfrend, equivalent to un- (noun/adjective prefix) + friend. Cognate with Scots unfrend (“unfriend”). Compare Old English unfriþmann, unwine.

Meanings

1. One who is not a friend; an enemy.
   • It is even as I suspected, my lord, […] Ye have back-friends, my lord, that is, unfriends—or, to be plain, enemies—about the person of the Prince. 1822 May 29, [Walter Scott], chapter IV, in The Fortunes of Nigel. […], volume II (in English), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 88–89:
   • For we desire no strangers in these lands to break the peace in which we live, and these folk are hewers of trees and hunters of beasts; therefore we are their unfriends, and if they will not depart we shall afflict them in all ways that we can. 1977, J. R. R. Tolkien, “Of the Coming of Men Into the West”, in The Silmarillion:
   • The unfriend betrays me, ignores me, denies me, breaks me down; the unfriend is against and tries to devour my personhood. 1999, Kees Waaijman, John Vriend, The mystical space of Carmel:
   • I wonder often it has not drawn her out of the grave to come and stand before me, and hear me tell her how I loved her. For, sir, we parted unfriends. 1856, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Poor Clare:
   • Thus many unfriends and some friends of the Capital agree upon the same policy with diverse and contradictory motives[…] 1916, William Edwin Chilton, John Downey Works, Fiscal relation between the United States and the District of Columbia:

Forms

Hyponyms

backfriend

Relateds

unfriendly

Synonyms

nonfriend · non-friend

unfriend en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ʌnˈfɹɛnd/ (UK, US)

Etymology

From un- (verb prefix) + friend. Compare Dutch ontvrienden (“to unfriend”), German entfreunden (“to unfriend”).

Meanings

1. (rare) To sever as friends.
   • "I hope, sir, that we are not mutually Unfriended by this Difference which hath happened betwixt us." 1659, Thomas Fuller, The Appeal of Injured Innocence:
2. (qualifier:social media) To defriend; to remove from one's friends list (e.g. on a social networking website).
   • Without unfriending someone, you can now choose to limit or block (unsubscribe) someone from your newsfeed or choose to see only what Facebook deems as very important. 2013, Nils Smith, Social Media Guide for Ministry: What It Is and How to Use It:
   • "I asked her why, she said it was because I didn't comment, and I shrugged and said whatever. I didn't unfriend her." 2007, Mia Consalvo, Caroline Haythornthwaite, Internet Research Annual: Volume 4:

Forms

Antonyms

friend · befriend

Deriveds

unfriender

Relateds

unfollow · unsubscribe

Synonyms

defriend

Translations (19)

es desamistarse (to remove from one's friends list) · uk відфрендити (to remove from one's friends list) · ru расфре́ндить (to remove from one's friends list) · tr arkadaşlıktan çıkarmak (to remove from one's friends list) · hu töröl az ismerősei közül (to remove from one's friends list) · li óntvrunje (to remove from one's friends list) · zza embazey ra veten (to remove from one's friends list) · ko 친구 끊기 (to remove from one's friends list) · he מחק מרשימת חברים (to remove from one's friends list) · ga cairdeas a bhriseadh le (to remove from one's friends list) · he אנפרנד (to remove from one's friends list) · nl ontvrienden (to remove from one's friends list) · de entfreunden (to remove from one's friends list) · fi poistaa kavereista (to remove from one's friends list) · sv ta bort som vän (to remove from one's friends list) · ru отфре́ндить (to remove from one's friends list) · az dostluqdan çıxarmaq (to remove from one's friends list) · vi huỷ kết bạn (to remove from one's friends list) · ru удали́ть из друзе́й (to remove from one's friends list)