What does defrock mean?
To defrock someone — always a member of the clergy — is to formally strip them of their status as a priest, minister, or other ordained minister, removing their right to perform religious rites such as celebrating mass or administering sacraments. The word is used almost exclusively in ecclesiastical contexts and typically appears when a church authority has found grounds for dismissal, most often serious misconduct or doctrinal violation: newspapers report that a bishop has 'defrocked' an offending priest, or that a pastor was 'defrocked' after an investigation. It is a formal, weighty term that implies official censure rather than mere resignation or retirement, and it often carries a connotation of disgrace. A closely related synonym, 'unfrock', means precisely the same thing but has become less common. The word derives from the image of removing a cleric's frock — the garment symbolizing his office — making it a vivid piece of religious vocabulary that also appears, by extension, in figurative uses about stripping anyone of a professional credential.
verbTo strip a member of the clergy of their right to exercise priestly functions or of their clerical status; to formally dismiss a priest or minister from holy orders.
- To remove a member of the clergy from their position or from the exercise of their sacred functions, typically as a disciplinary measure.
"The bishop defrocked the priest following a formal investigation into his conduct."
"After years of scandal, the church finally moved to defrock him."
"She was defrocked for preaching doctrines that contradicted official church teaching."
A defrocked priest hasn't lost his robe — he's lost his 'frock' in the figurative sense, since the word comes from French défroquer, literally to strip off a monk's frock.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of defrock
Defrock derives from the French verb défroquer, formed from froc ('frock', the habit worn by monks) with the privative prefix dé-, so it originally evoked the literal removal of a monk's garment as a sign of expulsion from his order. The word entered English around the mid-19th century, alongside its older synonym unfrock, which dates from the 16th century. The underlying noun frock itself came into English from Old French froc, of Germanic origin.
Related word forms
How defrock is actually used
Formal in register and almost exclusively used in religious contexts, referring specifically to the removal of clerical status rather than ordinary dismissal from employment. It carries a connotation of official censure or disgrace.
Easily confused with defrock
Unfrock means exactly the same thing and is largely interchangeable with defrock, though unfrock is somewhat older and now less common.