dethrone

American  

[dee-throhn] / diˈθroʊn /

verb (used with object)

• dethrones,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dethroned,
  past participle,  past
• dethroning
  present participle

1. to remove from a throne; depose.

2. to remove from any position of power or authority.

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dethrone British  

/ dɪˈθrəʊn /

verb

1. (tr) to remove from a throne or deprive of any high position or title; depose

   the champion was dethroned by a young boxer

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dethronement
  noun
• dethroner
  noun
• undethroned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• dethroning
  present
• dethroned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dethrone
  simple
• dethrones
  simple
• have dethroned
  perfect
• has dethroned
  perfect
• am dethroning
  progressive
• are dethroning
  progressive
• is dethroning
  progressive
• have been dethroning
  perfect progressive
• has been dethroning
  perfect progressive

Past

• dethroned
  simple
• had dethroned
  perfect
• was dethroning
  progressive
• were dethroning
  progressive
• had been dethroning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dethrone
  simple
• will have dethroned
  perfect
• will be dethroning
  progressive
• will have been dethroning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of dethrone

First recorded in 1600–10; de- + throne

Explanation

To dethrone means to remove a king or queen from power, like when Mary, Queen of Scots was kicked out of Scotland. You can also dethrone someone less formally, as when you dethrone your school's fastest runner by beating her mile time. In today's politics, to force a leader out of office is to depose them — except in the case of a monarchy, when we use the word dethrone. It literally means "to remove from the throne" and therefore refers specifically to those who sit on thrones: namely, kings and queens. You can also use this word in a figurative way to mean "remove from a dominant position." So, for example, you can say that the new jump rope champion dethrones the previous record holder.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dethrone dethrones dethroned dethroning

The 41-year-old star will join Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey on a Philadelphia team that will aim to dethrone the New York Knicks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

The hero of this round-of-32 shootout was Paraguay’s 26-year-old goalkeeper Orlando Gill, who stopped two German efforts to give the No. 34-ranked country in the world a chance to dethrone the four-time champions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

The first of his major objectives for the season is May's Giro d'Italia, after which he will try to dethrone Pogacar at the Tour, seeking to add to his 2022 and 2023 successes.

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

With the launch of Atlas, OpenAI isn’t just looking to dethrone Google Chrome as the default browser: It also wants ChatGPT to be the default operating system for the AI age.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2025

Because of the championship voters’ pronounced bias toward eastern horses in general and War Admiral in particular, Seabiscuit almost certainly could not dethrone the Horse of the Year without beating him on the track.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

October 14: The Airbus A320 dethrones the Boeing 737 as the leader in terms of all-time aircraft deliveries.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

Qualcomm can compete — not as the company that dethrones Nvidia, but as a credible, differentiated option in a fast-growing market.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

“This is precisely why so many economists resist it: because it dethrones their outdated tools and analyses,” she continued.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 4, 2022

Why he might not be a jerk: Look, a coach getting really excited when his athlete wins gold and dethrones the world-record holder is not by itself definitive evidence of jerkdom.

From Slate ● Jul. 26, 2021

No matter what the occasion of the terror is, a mouse or a martyrdom, fear dethrones us.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 13, November, 1858 by Various

Their time of three minutes 47.092 seconds was a new Commonwealth Games record and the Australians had been dethroned.

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

As the Spurs dethroned the defending champions on their home floor, the 22-year-old Wembanyama didn’t just match the early-career signposts of the greatest players in NBA history.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026

Hartford dethroned last year’s hottest market, Buffalo, N.Y., ranked by Zillow.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

“We’re looking at an almost 150-year-old record potentially being dethroned here,” said Bryan Lewis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 14, 2026

I spent the rest of the day in shock, reeling at the news that I’d been dethroned.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Chinese automakers are moving headlong onto German carmakers’ home turf after dethroning them in China, previously their strongest overseas market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

China has reclaimed its title as Germany's top trading partner, dethroning the United States after President Donald Trump launched his tariff onslaught, official data showed Wednesday.

From Barron's ● Nov. 19, 2025

Him pitching like this would have erased whatever chance the Padres had of dethroning the Dodgers in the National League West.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2025

As it continues to grow in popularity across the United States, perhaps dethroning the matcha trend, do as I do and when you see pandan on offer — try it.

From Salon ● Feb. 3, 2025

By dethroning Theodosius III. on the very eve of the great Saracen invasion, Leo the Isaurian took upon himself the gravest of responsibilities.

From The Byzantine Empire by Charles William Chadwick Oman

Related Words

• depose