defenestration
noun
Jane Bryant Quinn
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These days, defenestration—from the Latin fenestra, meaning "window"—is often used to describe the forceful removal of someone from public office or from some other advantageous position. History's most famous defenestration, however, was one in which the tossing out the window was quite literal. On May 23, 1618, two imperial regents were found guilty of violating certain guarantees of religious freedom and were thrown out the window of Prague Castle. The men survived the 50-foot tumble into the moat, but the incident marked the beginning of the Bohemian resistance to Hapsburg rule that eventually led to the Thirty Years' War and came to be known as the Defenestration of Prague. It was, in fact, the third such historical defenestration in Prague, but it was the first to be referred to as such by English speakers.
Examples of defenestration in a Sentence
Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
Klein has distinguished himself less through acidic argument and the defenestration of enemies, and more through a methodical, analytical voice, one that argues for a center-left renewal of the Democratic Party.
—David Remnick, New Yorker, 26 Sep. 2025
And Kimmel’s unprecedented defenestration joins a wave of cultural clampdown that crested earlier this year, when Colbert got the shady can from his parent company, likely for mocking the President.
—Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2025
This, coupled with America’s unfortunate defenestration of the West Coast’s limited supply of industrial waterfront, means that America’s space launch industry is on the verge of trapping itself on the wrong side of the increasingly unreliable Panama Canal.
—Craig Hooper, Forbes.com, 17 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Defenestration.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/defenestration. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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