dethrone
Americanverb (used with object)
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dethrones,
present (3rd person singular)
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dethroned,
past participle, past
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dethroning
present participle
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to remove from a throne; depose.
-
to remove from any position of power or authority.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dethronesimple
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dethronessimple
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have dethronedperfect
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has dethronedperfect
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am dethroningprogressive
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are dethroningprogressive
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is dethroningprogressive
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have been dethroningperfect progressive
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has been dethroningperfect progressive
Past
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dethronedsimple
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had dethronedperfect
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was dethroningprogressive
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were dethroningprogressive
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had been dethroningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dethrone
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.
Vocabulary lists containing dethrone
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Adventures of Don Quixote
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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.
See Examples For:
Stella Li, BYD’s executive vice president, said the company intends to dethrone Toyota as the world’s largest automaker by sales and that this can be achieved without selling cars in the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
But, four weeks before their Wimbledon showdown, Nadal had destroyed Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0 in the Roland Garros final to give him the confidence he could dethrone his rival.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
Dubois survived two early knockdowns to dethrone fellow Briton Wardley with an 11th-round stoppage in Manchester on Saturday.
From BBC ● May 15, 2026
Now, he'll be trying to dethrone 73-year-old Collins in the election.
From Barron's ● May 3, 2026
Now supremely confident of his chances of winning both the eighth and the ninth games, which would give him the match, Bobby rather formally declared that he would dethrone Spassky.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
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
It is not every day a huge underdog dethrones a living legend.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2022
The idea, well expressed many years ago by the theologian H. Richard Niebuhr, is that “radical monotheism dethrones all absolutes short of the principle of being itself.”
From Washington Post ● Aug. 25, 2021
His thoughts and desires and ways begin to dethrone ours as the aloe seed dethrones its leaves and casts them to the ground.
From Parables of the Christ-life by I. Lilias Trotter
Thorslund, 32, dethroned Cherneka Johnson in August to claim the WBC, WBO, WBA and IBF titles.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
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
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
Once Protestantism was dethroned, historians excavated almost every part of the nation’s spiritual landscape.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 19, 2026
He ruled over the other Titans until his son Zeus dethroned him and seized the power for himself.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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
The Miss Finland Organisation said dethroning Ms Dzafce was a "difficult but necessary" move.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025
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
I might as well talk about dethroning the queen, and proclaiming you king in her stead.”
From The Child Wife by Mayne Reid
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
