defriend

IPA/ˌdiːˈfrend/
IPA/ˌdiːˈfrend/

defriend — verb

  • defriendpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • defriendshe / she / it
  • defriendedpast simple
  • defriending-ing form

1. to end a social-media friendship by taking someone off your online friend or con

1.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to end a social-media friendship by taking someone off your online friend or contact list

Example

Mira defriended her cousin after he shared her private photos online.

defriend + [person] + after [event]

Hugo defriended an old teammate before starting a new gaming channel.

defriend + [person] before [new plan]

Common collocations
  • defriend someone
  • defriend on Facebook
  • defriend after a dispute
Synonyms
  • unfriend

    same meaning, but much more common in everyday English

  • unfollow

    weaker action; you stop seeing posts but may stay connected

  • block

    stronger action; it usually cuts off contact or profile access

Antonyms
  • friend

    to add someone as a friend on a social platform

  • add

    to send or accept a friend request

Grammar Patterns

defriend + person

Usage Note

Usually appears in writing about social-media friend lists with mutual connections. It is much less common than unfriend and refers to removing the connection itself, not just hiding posts as with unfollow.

Common Mistakes

I defriended his number.
I defriended him on Facebook.
defriend is used for social-platform friend lists, not phone contacts.
I defriended her, but we were still connected on the app.
I unfollowed her, but we were still connected on the app.
defriend removes the friend link; unfollow keeps the link but hides posts.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

Defriend and unfriend both mean removing someone from a social-media friend list, but unfriend is the usual modern choice and defriend is much rarer. Unfollow is a softer action: you stop seeing a person's posts, but the connection may stay in place. Block is much stronger, because it normally stops messages, profile visits, or other contact as well. Use defriend when the key idea is ending a Facebook-style mutual link. Use unfollow when you only want a quieter feed, and use block when you need a firm boundary. Compare: 'She defriended her cousin after the fight' and 'She blocked the stranger who kept sending threats.'

defriend ↗unfriend ↗unfollow ↗block ↗

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Defriend is built from the prefix de- and friend. In modern English, it came to mean removing someone from an online friend list on a social-media platform. The word is understandable to most users, but it appears far less often than unfriend.

First known use

2004

2004, in the meaning defined above