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

Now, he'll be trying to dethrone 73-year-old Collins in the election.

From Barron's ● May 3, 2026

After a disastrous rookie season, Williams—the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2024—exhibited astonishing progress over the course of the year to dethrone the Detroit Lions in the NFC North.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 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

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

The 13-foot fish dethrones the former record-holder, a 646-pound catfish found in northern Thailand in 2005.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 21, 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

I think it’s gonna be a long, long time before anyone dethrones Styles for best Elton John impersonation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2019

One poet dethrones another and the reader gets the impression that the later poet is always superior to the earlier one because he has destroyed convention, and introduced what is often a minor change.

From The Literature of Ecstasy by Mordell, Albert

Nvidia dethroned Microsoft as the most valuable publicly traded company last June, and its streak as the undisputed heavyweight of the AI era lasted for 265 trading days.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

They have not been out of the top three of the Fifa world ranking since March 2022, and spent two years in the number one spot before being dethroned by France last year.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

Tesla was dethroned early this year by Chinese automaker BYD as the largest EV seller in the world, but for many Californians, Musk’s signature vehicles are still an obvious choice.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026

The result lifts Saints up to second while Wigan could be dethroned from top spot if Leeds beat Bradford in their derby later on Friday.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2026

"From this day on, Your Highness, you are free. The giant who dethroned your father the King is dead!" he said to the "princess."

From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios

And now you know you’re not mounting a monumental upset and dethroning the defending NBA champions.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 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

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

The rise of the powerful technology first elevated Microsoft to the biggest market capitalization in January, dethroning Apple, before pushing Nvidia to take the crown.

From New York Times ● Jun. 18, 2024

In 808 Archbishop Eanbald joined the Mercian king, Cenwulf, in dethroning Eardulf of Northumbria.

From The English Church in the Middle Ages by Hunt, William

Related Words

• depose