defunct
Americanadjective
-
no longer in effect or use; not operating or functioning.
a defunct law; a defunct organization.
-
no longer in existence; dead; extinct.
a defunct person; a defunct tribe of Indians.
noun
adjective
-
no longer living; dead or extinct
-
no longer operative or valid
Other Word Forms
- defunctive adjective
- defunctness noun
- nondefunct adjective
Etymology
Origin of defunct
1540–50; < Latin dēfunctus discharged, dead (past participle of dēfungī ), equivalent to dē- de- + functus performed; function
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.
One early party he planned—a Halloween rave at a defunct plastics plant that was a registered toxic-waste site—was shut down by the fire department after it deemed the place unsafe.
This week he filed a malicious prosecution lawsuit, seeking compensatory and punitive damages against Rueda and deep-pocketed law firms Khan Law Office and Withers Bergman, as well as defunct firm Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht.
From Los Angeles Times
Before streaming platforms dominated at-home entertainment, consumers relied on places like Blockbuster, the now nearly erased movie rental chain and RedBox, the defunct movie vending machines, to watch newly released films.
From Los Angeles Times
The site of Ukraine's defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant briefly lost off-site power in the shutdown, the UN atomic energy watchdog said.
From Barron's
The ghost, on the other hand, who speaks in a creepy monotone, is like a relic of a long defunct amateur troupe.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
