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Glite Dictionary
🚫 To remove authority ⛪ To remove clergy
to unfrock

to unfrock

1 9.8
To remove someone from a position of authority as punishment
  • verb
  • /ʌnˈfrɑk/
  • Literature
translation icon : destituir
  • The corrupt official was unfrocked following a lengthy investigation into his actions.

Examples

  • The organization decided to unfrock the member who violated its code of conduct.

  • Don't unfrock him!

  • After the scandal, the board unfrocked the CEO, stripping him of all his titles and privileges.

  • The church decided to unfrock him after the scandal.

  • The bishop decided to unfrock the priest after the scandal came to light.

  • After the investigation, the church will unfrock any clergyman found guilty of misconduct.

  • The committee voted unanimously to unfrock the minister for violating church policies.

Synonyms

to bump
vsto unfrock
85 6.5

To move someone to a lower job or position

is an official disciplinary stripping of professional status rather than a simple rank change
to unseat
vsto unfrock
19 6.2

Remove someone from a position of power, often in politics

is a formal disciplinary removal from professional status rather than electoral displacement
to sack someone
vsto unfrock
  • UK
4.8

To stop employing someone, often suddenly as punishment

is a formal removal from professional status that focuses on authority loss

Antonyms

to appoint
  • Formal
580 3.2

Officially choose someone for a job or role

Surface Forms

unfrock infinitive
unfrocked past
unfrocked past participle
unfrocking present participle
unfrocks third person singular

Morphology

unfrock = frock (transparent) = un + frock

Standard prefixation: 'un-' (removal/reversal) applied to 'frock' yields the sense of removing someone from a position, by metaphorical extension from removing the clerical robe.

Etymology

Unfrock originally meant taking off a priest's frock ('robe'), which showed the person had lost their church role, so a helpful way to remember its wider use is to think of 'stripping' someone of rank or rights. That's why unfrock can also mean to officially remove someone from a position or professional status.