DeFi
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of DeFi
First recorded in 2015–20
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.
The word “DeFiant” was a coy wink to this idea of decentralized currency, known as DeFi, the ostensible rationale for the new Trump–Witkoff platform.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
“Markets are navigating elevated volatility amid heightened geopolitical risk, with the Federal Reserve’s rate outlook remaining a primary driver for risk assets, including digital assets,” DeFi Technologies president Andrew Forson said.
From Barron's ● Apr. 29, 2026
Major Wall Street firms are racing to turn traditional assets from stocks to bonds to funds into tokens on the blockchain, with many of these tokenized assets expected to be used in DeFi protocols.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
While digital credit does exist in the form of lending from DeFi firms, institutional leverage hasn’t made its way into using bitcoin as a vehicle for lending.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
This does not reflect traditional consumer borrowing, but rather crypto holders using digital assets as collateral as DeFi credit markets grow in size and activity.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 6, 2026
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.
