unfriend

[ uhn-frend ]

verb (used with object)

1. to remove (a person) from one's list of friends, or contacts, on a social media website.

Word History and Origins

Origin of unfriend¹

2005–10; un- ² + friend (in the sense “to add to one's list of contacts”)

Example Sentences

“I also have those type of people in my social media circle and quite frankly, I press X, hide, because I don’t want to see it. But I don’t unfriend them,” she said.

From Slate

But since the early 2000s there has been a quiet campaign in the Keystone State and beyond to unfriend anyone outside certain precincts of Christianity — and most Quakers would almost certainly be among the outcasts.

From Salon

His tour has openly become a campaign to "unfriend" the nation.

From Salon

I’m afraid it’ll embarrass him and could cause him to become defensive or even unfriend me.

From Washington Post

“We will shout opinions across the internet, and we will unfriend those who make us upset. There will be memorials, and vigils, and thoughts and prayers. We have done this before.”

From New York Times

Related Words

• block
• unfollow