unglue
Americanverb (used with object)
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to separate or detach by or as if by overcoming an adhesive agent.
to unglue a sticker from a wall.
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Slang.
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to confuse or upset.
He was unglued by his opponent's superb defense.
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to cause to fail or lose effectiveness.
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Etymology
Origin of unglue
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:
It took 20 minutes for police officers to unglue Farhana Yamin from Shell’s offices in London.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2022
Along with the Chiefs, and all the problems they create with the inimitable Mahomes, Hill’s blazing speed and tight end Travis Kelce’s knack for big plays, the Arrowhead din can unglue teams.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2021
But ineffectual neutralist Premier Souvanna Phouma feared that any such determined action might unglue his tottering left-right-center coalition.
From Time Magazine Archive
And I can’t unglue her arms from around my neck.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
I take another swig of root beer to unglue my mouth—just in case I have to cry for help.
From "Dragons in a Bag" by Zetta Elliott
It started in the third inning, when a steady drizzle, slippery ball and muddy mound caused Tyler Glasnow to come unglued.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2025
Coming unglued because other people laugh is not.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2024
Two factors had helped: One seam on the box had come unglued, allowing oxygen to circulate, and mild weather kept Galena from overheating or freezing.
From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
She said Remi’s name and Remi came unglued, thinking of the night Margery asked her to fetch a glass sculpture of a flightless bird she’d purchased for the dining room.
From Slate ● Jan. 27, 2024
One time, a few years ago, I just about came unglued in an arcade when I couldn’t get a pair of SpongeBob sunglasses in one of those claw games.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
He can see the gate opening and hear that explosion of sound, a stadium ungluing as he sprints across a familiar field.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 31, 2022
Mr. Pulling said more than 60 posters were restored in a process that included ungluing them and removing the creases.
From New York Times ● Dec. 3, 2011
This wickedly amusing show is a sight for glad eyes, and parents who take young children along should be forewarned that they may have trouble ungluing them from their seats when the final curtain falls.
From Time Magazine Archive
For a while the only visible manifestation of the thaw was a general fading, ungluing, cracking of power positions on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Baby,” Vonetta said, without ungluing herself from her mirror.
From "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia
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.
