unbend
Americanverb (used with object)
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unbends,
present (3rd person singular)
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unbent,
past participle, past
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unbended,
past participle, past (Archaic)
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unbending
present participle
-
to straighten from a bent form or position.
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to release from the strain of formality, intense effort, etc.; relax.
to unbend one's mind.
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to release from tension, as a bow.
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Nautical.
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to loose or untie, as a sail or rope.
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to unfasten from spars or stays, as sails.
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verb (used without object)
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unbends,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unbent,
past participle, past
-
unbended,
past participle, past (Archaic)
-
unbending
present participle
-
to relax the strictness of formality or ceremony; act in an easy, genial manner.
Imagine him unbending!
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to become unbent; straighten.
verb
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to release or be released from the restraints of formality and ceremony
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informal to relax (the mind) or (of the mind) to become relaxed
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to become or be made straightened out from an originally bent shape or position
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(tr) nautical
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to remove (a sail) from a stay, mast, yard, etc
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to untie (a rope, etc) or cast (a cable) loose
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unbendsimple
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unbendssimple
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have unbendedperfect
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have unbentperfect
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has unbendedperfect
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has unbentperfect
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am unbendingprogressive
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are unbendingprogressive
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is unbendingprogressive
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have been unbendingperfect progressive
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has been unbendingperfect progressive
Past
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unbendedsimple
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unbentsimple
-
had unbendedperfect
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had unbentperfect
-
was unbendingprogressive
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were unbendingprogressive
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had been unbendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unbend
Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; see origin at un- 2, bend 1
Explanation
When you make something straight, you unbend it. If your knees are stiff, it can be hard to unbend them after sitting cross-legged on the floor for a while. To straighten something bent or twisted is to unbend it. You can finally unbend your arm once you get that cast off! And when you relax or loosen up, you figuratively unbend: "It'll be nice to take it easy this weekend, and finally unbend after a long, busy week." The original meaning of this verb was "relax a bow by unstringing it," from the word bend and its earliest definition, "bend a bow."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“So by oscillating the voltage back and forth, you can bend and unbend the strip, which will generate waves to drive the movement,” Cohen says.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 11, 2022
Even if your parents rage against that restriction, they can’t force you to unbend.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2021
But every part of the process – including the coat hanger we unbend to use as a roasting spit — is a product of the Industrial Revolution.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2018
Taking small steps Mr. Hübbe has begun to unbend certain traditions.
From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2011
My joints were frozen with terror — I couldn’t unbend my fingers to drop it.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Instead of shuttling back and forth, the vitamin A complex stays put in the retina, where one wavelength of light bends the light-sensing molecule, while another unbends it.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 9, 2023
But as you pass from childhood to middle age, from middle age to old age, the coin slowly unbends.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2018
This is not a short-term strategy until he unbends and promises to change—he’s made it clear he can’t be trusted, so don’t trust him.
From Slate ● Aug. 30, 2017
Besuited and stiffly formal of speech, he gradually unbends as he talks about his giving.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 21, 2010
Grand is the hall the noble lord ascends;— In height, like human form most reverent, grand; And straight, as flies the shaft when bow unbends; Its tints, like hues when pheasant's wings expand.
From The Wisdom of Confucius with Critical and Biographical Sketches by Epiphanius Wilson
It was to no purpose, therefore, that Thwackum, who was immediately charged by Mr Blifil with the story, unbended all his rancour against poor Tom.
From History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
Then he unbended, and admitted me to the body of the auditorium, where I was conducted to a coign of vantage in near proximity to members of the fair sex and galaxy of beauty.
From Baboo Jabberjee, B.A. by F. Anstey
"There have been pleadings, and revilings—tears, and curses— bended knees, and unbended arms."
From A Fool There Was by Porter Emerson Browne
Louis, who always unbended to a merry jester, was showing his pictures to Killigrew, when they came to a painting of the Crucifixion, placed between portraits of the Pope and the "Roi Soleil" himself.
From Love Romances of the Aristocracy by Thornton Hall
All at once, from being the plodding, hard-working engineer, with responsibility and thought in every feature, Telford unbended and relaxed, and became the merriest and drollest of the party.
From The Life of Thomas Telford; civil engineer with an introductory history of roads and travelling in Great Britain by Samuel Smiles
Particles with Oh-My-God and Amaterasuenergy blast through intergalactic space relatively unbent.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 23, 2023
She unbent slightly and explained that she had downloaded a tool that unblocked overseas Web sites.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 1, 2019
“Unbowed, unbent, unbroken — for Oberyn,” Ellaria solemnly says to the Sand Snakes before sending them on their way.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2015
"It's been run into by cars and bent and unbent, but it keeps going."
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 11, 2011
Proud and tall he seemed, though the hair that flowed beneath his high helm was like snow; and many marvelled at him and took heart to see him unbent and unafraid.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
In his one shot at the Champions League, Postecoglou was unbending in his attacking mindset even when drawn against Real Madrid.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2024
Religion tends to be about absolute truths and unbending principles.
From Slate ● Nov. 9, 2023
It set a template for the rest of her political career: unbending, strong, determined.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2023
They have avoided internal divisions by falling in line behind their ideologically unbending leader.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2023
Past a deepblue beetle balanced on an unbending blade of grass.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
