Brexit

//ˈbɹɛɡzɪt// name, verb, slang

name, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To exit the European Union.

    "Brexiting the EU, not leaving Europe"

  2. 2
    To leave a romantic relationship. broadly, slang
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. UK

    "Unless a clear view is pushed that Britain must lead in Europe at the very least to achieve the completion of the single market then the portmanteau for Greek euro exit might be followed by another sad word, Brexit."

Example

More examples

"Brexit refers to the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union."

Etymology

Blend of Britain + exit, formed by analogy with Grexit. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest attested use is on 15 May 2012 in a Euractiv blog post by Peter Wilding titled “Stumbling towards the Brexit”, formed by analogy with Grexit, coined on 6 February 2012.

Related phrases

hard Brexitpost-Brexitsoft Brexiteuropean unionunited kingdom

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.