The definition: "To remove someone as a 'friend' on a social networking site such as ." 

quotes Senior Lexicographer Christine Lindberg as saying: "It has both currency and potential longevity. In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year. Most 'un-' prefixed words are adjectives (unacceptable, unpleasant), and there are certainly some familiar 'un-' verbs (uncap, unpack), but 'unfriend' is different from the norm. It assumes a verb sense of 'friend' that is really not used (at least not since maybe the 17th century!). Unfriend has real lex-appeal."

Other techie terms that were considered: , intexticated, , paywall and .

Oxford didn't ignore either, citing a notable word cluster including Twitt, Tweeple and other Twitterish terms.