defund

/diːˈfʌnd/

//diːˈfʌnd// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"defund" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“defund” is uncommon English (frequency #52,262 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,262
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cancel funding for.

Corpus desk

Index EN-defund · defund · English

defund · rank #52,262 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,262
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH defecation

Nearest frequency peer: defecation (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “defund”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “defund” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for defund
PropertyValue
Headworddefund
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/diːˈfʌnd/
Letters6
Frequency rank#52,262
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “defund” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).defundfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “defecation” (#52,261), “Denbighshire” (#52,263), “dees” (#52,260). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “defund” is #52,262. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

defund is uncommon English at frequency #52,262 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /diːˈfʌnd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To cancel funding for.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for defund, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From de- + fund. The correct English form is defund, spelled D-E-F-U-N-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cancel funding for.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how defund appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Did the Arizona legislators satisfy the principles of deliberation when they decided to defund organ transplants?
  2. However, when Congress has attempted to defund a presidential agency, presidents have responded by creating new agencies to perform similar functions.

Etymology

From de- + fund.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "defund"?
"defund" is spelled D-E-F-U-N-D. The IPA pronunciation is /diːˈfʌnd/.
What does "defund" mean?
As a verb, "defund" means: To cancel funding for.
How do you pronounce "defund"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "defund" is /diːˈfʌnd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "defund"?
From de- + fund. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "defund", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

deejay#52,259curler#52,252doobie#52,279cosine#52,240

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list