Defunct
adjective
If something is defunct, it no longer exists or works.
The organization is now defunct.
Often appears as...
- go defunct
- become defunct
adjective
If something is defunct, it is outdated or no longer relevant.
That law is defunct.
Often appears as...
- become defunct
- remain defunct
adjective
If a person is considered defunct, they have passed away.
The property was inherited by his sons from their defunct father.
Often appears as...
- defunct person
- defunct relative
Usage tips
Formal
Legal
adjective
If something is defunct, it no longer exists or works.
The organization is now defunct.
Often appears as...
- go defunct
- become defunct
adjective
If something is defunct, it is outdated or no longer relevant.
That law is defunct.
Often appears as...
- become defunct
- remain defunct
adjective
If a person is considered defunct, they have passed away.
The property was inherited by his sons from their defunct father.
Often appears as...
- defunct person
- defunct relative
Usage tips
Formal
Legal
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Ceased Operations
Use 'defunct' for businesses or organizations that have stopped operating and dissolved.
The airline went defunct after 50 years in business.
Pro Tip 2/3Historical Context
'Defunct' can refer to practices or institutions that have become part of history.
The feudal system is now defunct.
Pro Tip 3/3Technological Shifts
Use when technology advances make older versions useless or redundant.
With the introduction of smartphones, pagers are largely defunct.
Pro Tip 1/3Ceased Operations
Use 'defunct' for businesses or organizations that have stopped operating and dissolved.
The airline went defunct after 50 years in business.
Pro Tip 2/3Historical Context
'Defunct' can refer to practices or institutions that have become part of history.
The feudal system is now defunct.
Pro Tip 3/3Technological Shifts
Use when technology advances make older versions useless or redundant.
With the introduction of smartphones, pagers are largely defunct.
Pro Tip 1/3Ceased Operations
Use 'defunct' for businesses or organizations that have stopped operating and dissolved.
The airline went defunct after 50 years in business.
Pro Tip 2/3Historical Context
'Defunct' can refer to practices or institutions that have become part of history.
The feudal system is now defunct.
Pro Tip 3/3Technological Shifts
Use when technology advances make older versions useless or redundant.
With the introduction of smartphones, pagers are largely defunct.
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Video examples
What if every satellite...
as well as many other devices and power grids around the world. And the second is an orbital chain reaction of collisions. With about 7,500 metric tons of defunct spacecraft, spent boosters, and discarded equipment orbiting our planet
Video examples
Epic Grand Canyon Hike:...
miles apart at one spring we stop and gaze upon its babbling current thirsty they're reluctant to drink horn creaks it's below the defunct orphan uranium mine which operated above us on the rim
Video examples
What if every satellite...
as well as many other devices and power grids around the world. And the second is an orbital chain reaction of collisions. With about 7,500 metric tons of defunct spacecraft, spent boosters, and discarded equipment orbiting our planet
Video examples
Epic Grand Canyon Hike:...
miles apart at one spring we stop and gaze upon its babbling current thirsty they're reluctant to drink horn creaks it's below the defunct orphan uranium mine which operated above us on the rim
Example 1 of 2
Quote examples
Charlie Brooker
English Critic
If your home is anything like mine, it contains several rarely explored crannies stashed full of archaic chargers, defunct cables, and freshly antiquated gizmos whose sole useful function in 2011 is to make 2005 feel like 1926, simply by looking big and dull and impossibly lumpen.
Quote examples
Graham Swift
British Author
The novel that's contemporary in the sense of being wholly 'of now' is an impossibility, if only because novels may take years to write, so the 'now' with which they begin will be defunct by the time they're finished.
Quote examples
Dominic Holland
English Comedian
Many years ago, I was a young and, dare I say it, very hot new comedian. Maybe even the hottest of all if the now defunct Perrier panel of judges were to be believed.
Quote examples
Kenneth Frazier
American Businessman
You either innovate or you become defunct.
Quote examples
Charlie Brooker
English Critic
If your home is anything like mine, it contains several rarely explored crannies stashed full of archaic chargers, defunct cables, and freshly antiquated gizmos whose sole useful function in 2011 is to make 2005 feel like 1926, simply by looking big and dull and impossibly lumpen.
Quote examples
Graham Swift
British Author
The novel that's contemporary in the sense of being wholly 'of now' is an impossibility, if only because novels may take years to write, so the 'now' with which they begin will be defunct by the time they're finished.
Quote examples
Dominic Holland
English Comedian
Many years ago, I was a young and, dare I say it, very hot new comedian. Maybe even the hottest of all if the now defunct Perrier panel of judges were to be believed.
Quote examples
Kenneth Frazier
American Businessman
You either innovate or you become defunct.
Example 1 of 4
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