unfurl
Americanverb (used with object)
-
unfurls,
present (3rd person singular)
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unfurled,
past participle, past
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unfurling
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
unfurls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unfurled,
past participle, past
-
unfurling
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
unfurlsimple
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unfurlssimple
-
have unfurledperfect
-
has unfurledperfect
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am unfurlingprogressive
-
are unfurlingprogressive
-
is unfurlingprogressive
-
have been unfurlingperfect progressive
-
has been unfurlingperfect progressive
Past
-
unfurledsimple
-
had unfurledperfect
-
was unfurlingprogressive
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were unfurlingprogressive
-
had been unfurlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unfurl
Explanation
When you unfurl something, you unroll it or spread it out. Your yoga teacher will unfurl her long purple mat at the beginning of class. To unfurl something is to roll it out, unwinding it the way you do with a coiled laptop charger cord. You might also unfurl a pair of socks curled around each other or the American flag you keep rolled up in a closet until the Fourth of July. Unfurl is a more common word than its opposite, furl, which means "roll or fold." The French origin is ferler, "to furl," from the Old French roots fer, "firm" and lier, "bind."
Vocabulary lists containing unfurl
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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:
Inside the 25,000-seater Estadio Hidalgo in east-central Mexico, fans unfurl a tifo featuring a miner.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
Mr. Armitage captures this with expert subtlety, allowing the narrative to unfurl without imposing false coherence upon it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
And geopolitical events will unfurl as we watch helplessly from afar.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 15, 2025
It fed his compulsive desire to play, particularly in the fast formats at which he excelled, and gave him a platform to unfurl his layered understanding of the game.
From Slate ● Nov. 1, 2025
She would alight just before the edge of the wood and unfurl herself.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
A seemingly endless network of roads unfurls in a massive grid, generally without sidewalks, curbs or landscaping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Across the next four days, the future unfurls: Neuroscientist Anil Seth says it’s highly unlikely A.I. will gain consciousness.
From Slate ● May 8, 2026
The answer unfurls in your question: Do you believe that you ethically owe half of the winnings to your friend?
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 7, 2026
The rest should be saved not just because of spoilers but because the real enjoyment of this book is how the story gracefully — and other times, not-so-gracefully, but with deliberation — unfurls.
From Salon ● Nov. 11, 2025
The nurse—short with curly hair and a clownish face—reaches to the hooks behind her and unfurls a blood pressure gauge.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
In 2022, while playing the Tree, Stanford’s unofficial mascot, he unfurled a 40-foot banner that read, “Stanford Hates Fun.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
World War II saw that inaugural edition scrapped, but when the festival finally unfurled in 1946, studio films such as Alfred Hitchcock’s “Notorious” and George Cukor’s “Gaslight” were part of the program.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
A giant tifo of the emotional Newcastle United head coach had been unfurled down the front of a city centre hotel to loud cheers and chants of "Eddie Howe's black and white army".
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
Greenpeace activists scaled a monument in front of Congress at dawn on Wednesday and unfurled a banner urging lawmakers "not to betray the Argentine people."
From Barron's ● Apr. 8, 2026
The weathered yellow parchment unfurled, covered with faded Latin script and elaborate hand-drawn pictures.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
Even if this is the end of the conflict, the economic shock is still unfurling.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026
In March, anti-fur activists demonstrated during the women's shows, unfurling banners that said "Milan Fashion Week Go Fur-Free".
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Hüller’s voice begins small before unfurling into a mighty, sonorant exclamation until it’s brought back down again, like a woman who’s reluctant to let herself have too much faith in the impossible.
From Salon ● Mar. 21, 2026
They also are indignant about the government unfurling a welcome mat for Fuyao.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
The petals opened one by one, each a perfect violet teardrop, and at the center, the flower’s black eye gazed unblinkingly up at Taisin, whose face glowed with the energy unfurling through her.
From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo
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.
