Word of the day · 8 September 2026
defenestrate
/diːˈfɛnɪstreɪt/
verb
To throw a person or thing out of a window.
In a sentence
- In the movie, the villain threatens to defenestrate anyone who opens the letter.
- The committee did not fire him politely; they defenestrated the whole proposal.
- Please do not defenestrate the broken printer, however tempting that sounds.
Origin
From Latin de- (out of) and fenestra (window). English borrowed the pattern after famous “defenestrations” in Prague.
History
In 1618, Protestant nobles threw two imperial officials and a secretary from a Prague Castle window. The men survived the fall into a dung heap or soft ground, depending on the telling, but the act helped spark the Thirty Years’ War. “Defenestration” became the noun for the event and later a dry joke for removing someone abruptly from power or a project.
Nearby words
oust · eject · window
A dramatic verb with a literal meaning and a long political shadow in European history.