defease means to annul or render void a contract or stipulation; to abrogate. It carries an Arena rating of 1372, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, defease ranks #1,045 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #1,574 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #3,590 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #3,973 of 17,149 for Most Exacting Words.
Why “defease” is a great word
To annul or render void a contract or stipulation by fulfilling a specific, built-in condition. A back-formation from the noun 'defeasance' (the act of annulling). Unlike "rescind," which suggests a power to revoke, or "abrogate," which implies the authoritative repeal of a law, "defease" is the quiet, technical act of unmaking an agreement on its own predetermined terms. It is the turning of a key in a lock after the final payment, the tearing of a perforated bond certificate from its stub, the deliberate strike-through of a single inked paragraph—the quiet undoing of a promised future, a small, formal death for a future that will not come to pass.
Etymology
Back-formation from defeasance.
verb
- To annul or render void a contract or stipulation; to abrogate.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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