defunct
adjective · verb · noun
Simple meaning
No longer in business or service, nor expected to be again.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihfuhngktSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪˈfʌŋkt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
business
No longer in business or service, nor expected to be again; out of business.
linguisticsof a language
No longer spoken.
No longer in use or active, nor expected to be again.
verb
To make defunct.
noun
The dead person (referred to).
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: No longer in business or service, nor expected to be again; out of business.
Used this way, defunct is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It turns up most in business or professional contexts.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Business/professional
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “defunct” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.
