Word.ws English Dictionary

defunkify

defunkify verb: to mask or remove the odor from; to deodorize.

Verb

defunkify (third-person singular simple present defunkifies, present participle defunkifying, simple past and past participle defunkified)

  1. (humorous, slang, transitive) To mask or remove the odor from; to deodorize.
    • I don't know of it works on defunkifying fridges, but I've used it to prevent nasty odors in ice chests.2003 July 17, TexasFireGuy [username], “Re: stinky fridge”, in alt.home.repair (Usenet)
    • And though we're not implying anything, scented candles and fragrance sticks can defunkify a flat and add alluring aroma to your efforts to cherchez l'amour.2006 March, “Add Class To Your Cave”, in Men's Health, page 36
  2. (slang, transitive) To take out of a funk; to enliven; to cheer up.
    • But that only depresses me more! I need to defunkify myself in that manner too.2001 December 9, Destiny in the Dark [username], “Re: Trying to get defunky”, in alt.depressed.as.fuck (Usenet)
    • I am not trying to spit funky shit to my sisters even when they trying to defunkify my emotions by acting like we ain't all in de bottom of de black boat together.2004, Rochell J. Isaac, Black Girls Who Eat Sushi: Life Stories, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 23

Examples of defunkify in a sentence

  • As the hour grows late, I know that I'm going to have to get him out of here so I can clean and defunkify this bedroom.2010, Layla Jordan, The Liar's Club, Dafina Books, →ISBN:
  • i just know that the end of the summer always throws u into a funk, so i wanted to do something to defunkify u.2004, Lauren Myracle, ttyl, Abrams, published 2014, →ISBN, page 1:

Synonyms of defunkify

Forms of defunkify

third-person singular presentdefunkifies
present participledefunkifying
past participledefunkified
pastdefunkified

Origin of defunkify

From de- + funk + -ify.

Questions about defunkify

What does defunkify mean?
Defunkify means to mask or remove the odor from; to deodorize.
How do you use defunkify in a sentence?
As the hour grows late, I know that I'm going to have to get him out of here so I can clean and defunkify this bedroom.
What part of speech is defunkify?
Defunkify is a verb.
What is the past tense of defunkify?
The past tense of defunkify is defunkified.

Words near defunkify in the dictionary

  1. defundings
  2. defunds
  3. DeFuniak Springs
  4. defunkified
  5. defunkifies
  6. defunkify
  7. defunkifying
  8. defur
  9. defurfuration
  10. defuroxamine
  11. defurred

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: defunkify (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-defunkify.ogg.

Cite this entry: “defunkify.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/defunkify. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.