unfrock

American

[uhn-frok] / ʌnˈfrɒk /

verb (used with object)

defrock.

unfrock British

/ ʌnˈfrɒk /

verb

(tr) to deprive (a person in holy orders) of ecclesiastical status

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of unfrock

First recorded in 1635–45; un- ² + frock

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Vatican has sent him for treatment but has yet to unfrock him, even after he seemed to trivialise his actions in a television interview.

From Economist • Apr. 28, 2011

They block his plan for a Church dance, they prevent his sheltering a pursued harlot, just as he has concluded that the Church is not all that it should be, his disapproving seniors unfrock him.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week, in a committee debate on Parliament's new Criminal Justice bill, Laborite Emrys Hughes launched a movement to unwig and unfrock Britain's men of law.

From Time Magazine Archive

Hold your tongue; it was I who made you Metropolitan, and I unfrock you.

From Roumanian Stories Translated from the Original Roumanian by Various

Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin almost had to unfrock themselves in order to become statesmen.

From Charred Wood by Shepherd, J. Clinton

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023