unburden
Americanverb (used with object)
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unburdens,
present (3rd person singular)
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unburdened,
past participle, past
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unburdening
present participle
verb
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to remove a load or burden from
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to relieve or make free (one's mind, oneself, etc) of a worry, trouble, etc, by revelation or confession
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unburdensimple
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unburdenssimple
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have unburdenedperfect
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has unburdenedperfect
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am unburdeningprogressive
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are unburdeningprogressive
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is unburdeningprogressive
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have been unburdeningperfect progressive
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has been unburdeningperfect progressive
Past
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unburdenedsimple
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had unburdenedperfect
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was unburdeningprogressive
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were unburdeningprogressive
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had been unburdeningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unburden
Explanation
When you remove a difficulty or weight from yourself or someone else, you unburden them. Help unburden a friend by carrying her books or by listening to her troubles. When you unburden someone, you take away some burden — a task, hardship, or even something they're worried about. You can unburden new parents by offering to babysit or unburden your little brother by carrying his backpack for him. Another way to unburden is to relieve of an emotional weight: "You may feel better if you unburden yourself. Want to tell me what's on your mind?"
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:
"When you breathe, you're already rich, you're already a millionaire; all the wealth is in life. I talked with him, and I was able to unburden myself."
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
IFS is a way to unburden the self and have a more integrated inner system, Morin said.
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2024
The predictive technologies that are promising to unburden us of the inconveniences of life are also creating a situation where we are gradually more anxious, not less anxious.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024
“There’s someone out there who has been carrying this burden for 25 years, and it’s time to let it go and unburden yourself,” Tacoma Detective Julie Dier said.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
There is one situation and one situation only in which a butler who cares about his dignity may feel free to unburden himself of his role; that is to say, when he is entirely alone.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
Here, a female devotee unburdens her troubles before Puliyurkali, a powerful manifestation of goddess Kali, seeking solace and divine intervention.
From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2024
There are no murmurs of empathy as he unburdens himself.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 14, 2022
As Changez tells his story to an American in a Lahore cafe, he also unburdens himself to us — and dares us to judge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2021
Even Bush's ballads don't sound lugubrious: Unfettered by sonic gravity or pop conventions, she exudes exquisite grace as she unburdens herself.
From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2018
He carried Keble's ideas to much further conclusions and saw that man unburdens not only his conscious emotions, but even those of which he is unconscious.
From The Literature of Ecstasy by Albert Mordell
China is no longer the indispensable partner unburdened by a history of war in the region.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
AI-native software startups, unburdened by the baggage of years of design decisions, can leapfrog incumbents with new ways of doing things.
From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026
Rather, she prefers to be called a “ball of light” or “God’s helper,” mystifying phrases unburdened by the conventional stigmas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025
The most mobile Americans are recent college graduates who are brimming with potential, searching for work and unburdened by major responsibilities.
From Salon ● Dec. 5, 2025
“Now, Petra Peña, you will live a very long, unburdened life among the Collective.”
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
He would claim that he’d be passing by the accused’s cell and strike up a conversation, and before long the fellow prisoner would be unburdening himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Stacy’s problem with New York life, and particularly how its version of 1% living shaped her children, is why Preston’s cabin becomes the start of her “Walden”-style unburdening.
From Salon ● Mar. 23, 2026
“I felt like people needed to get this off their chest. It was almost like they were unburdening themselves.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2025
After unburdening herself from the bipolar diagnosis she had received as a child, she got off psych meds.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2024
Ralph, having begun the business of unburdening himself, continued.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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.
