Make Your Point: DEFENESTRATE

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pronounce DEFENESTRATE:

dee FEN uh strate

connect this word to others:

The word defenestrate is pretty hilarious. So are skullduggery, skunkworks, and kerfuffle, all of which crack me right up.

Could you define those three? And could you think of any other word that immediately makes you laugh?

definition:

In Latin, fenestra means "window." Fenestra pops up in just a few English words, like "fenestral," meaning "having windows, or having to do with windows;" and "defenestrate," meaning "to toss out a window."

Now, the act of tossing your political enemies out a window has a long history, but as the OED explains it, one particular instance popularized the word "defenestration." In 1618, some protestors in Prague threw a couple of imperial regents out a window, along with their secretary. They actually survived the fall. But the incident went down in history as "the defenestration of Prague."

(Source)

And starting around the year 1904, it became popular in English to talk about literally or figuratively defenestrating things: tossing them out a window, or otherwise totally getting rid of them.

In other words, when you defenestrate something, you chuck it out a window, or permanently and perhaps gleefully get rid of it, as if you're chucking it out a window.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Verb, the transitive kind: "He drives off, defenestrating his cell phone."

Other forms:

Defenestrated, defenestrating, defenestration.

how to use it:

"Defenestrate" is unapologetically silly. It's also rare, but it's pretty easy to understand in context.

You might talk about people literally defenestrating things, as in, "I'm daydreaming about defenestrating those bagpipes" or "Cartoons taught me that cities are dangerously thick with defenestrated pianos."

Or, talk about people figuratively defenestrating things, like ideas, traditions, hypotheses, possibilities, hopes, dreams, and expectations.

Or, when someone gets fired, or voted out, or kicked out, or shut down on social media, instead of talking about their "ouster" or their "cancellation," you could talk about their "defenestration." It's more fun.

examples:

"When Peter Thiel defenestrated [Elon Musk] from PayPal, it was because Musk wanted to rename PayPal."
— Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 1 August 2023

"What if the Habsburg nobles in Prague had a trampoline outside their window, so when they were defenestrated they just kept bouncing back up to the window, yelling, 'Boi-oi-oi-oinnng . . . boi-oi-oi-oinnng . . ' to the Bohemians inside?"
— Pat Myers, Washington Post, 29 November 2018

has this page helped you understand "defenestrate"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "defenestrate" without saying "toss out" or "jettison."

try it out:

Fill in the blank: "Some days, I wouldn't mind defenestrating (some object or other thing)."

Example: "Some days, I wouldn't mind defenestrating that printer that always jammed."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is "Oh Hey, That's the Title!"

I'll give you a short excerpt from a novel, a play, or a short story. In this excerpt, a character or a narrator actually says the story's title. (If not verbatim, then almost.) And you give me the story's title.

Highlight the hints if you need them, and see the answer by scrolling all the way down. Enjoy!

Try this one today:

"'What is a game?' Marx said. 'It's _____, _____ _____, _____ _____. It's the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.'"

To reveal the hints below, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: This story was published in the year... 2022.
Hint 2: This story was written by... Gabrielle Zevin.
Hint 3: This title is a reference to... Macbeth.
Hint 4: The first letter of each word in this title is... "T____, a____ T____, a____ T____"

review this word:

1. Near opposites of DEFENESTRATE include

A. BOOT and EVICT.
B. PRAISE and ELEVATE.
C. EMBRACE and YANK INWARD.

2. "_____" is a goofy camp song about the joys of defenestration.

A. The Cannibal King
B. Threw It Out the Window
C. A Boy and a Girl in a Little Canoe

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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