unhinge
Americanverb (used with object)
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unhinges,
present (3rd person singular)
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unhinged,
past participle, past
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unhinging
present participle
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to remove (a door or the like) from hinges.
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to open wide by or as if by removing supporting hinges.
to unhinge one's jaws.
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to upset; unbalance; disorient; throw into confusion or turmoil.
to unhinge the mind.
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to dislocate or disrupt the normal operation of; unsettle.
to unhinge plans.
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to detach or separate from something.
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to cause to waver or vacillate.
to unhinge supporters of conservative policies.
verb
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to remove (a door, gate, etc) from its hinges
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to derange or unbalance (a person, his mind, etc)
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to disrupt or unsettle (a process or state of affairs)
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(usually foll by from) to detach or dislodge
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unhingesimple
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unhingessimple
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have unhingedperfect
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has unhingedperfect
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am unhingingprogressive
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are unhingingprogressive
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is unhingingprogressive
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have been unhingingperfect progressive
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has been unhingingperfect progressive
Past
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unhingedsimple
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had unhingedperfect
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was unhingingprogressive
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were unhingingprogressive
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had been unhingingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unhinge
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 inherently asks us to consume these people and needs us to in order to make money, but sometimes consumers want to unhinge their jaws and eat these stars whole, a frightening and unsettling behavior.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026
The troubles at Credit Suisse threatened to unhinge Switzerland’s position as a leading financial market, and the takeover left the country with only one internationally important bank: UBS.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
Snakes can’t really unhinge their jaws, but for some, that doesn’t get in the way of swallowing absurdly large prey.
From New York Times ● Aug. 31, 2023
Once I put it together, I assessed the four-pattied beast, fearing I would have to unhinge a jaw to consume it.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2022
Like some members of the reptile family, dwarf males can unhinge their jaws, allowing them to ingest several pounds of earth a second.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
They have shown they can link up on the pitch and all play well, but there always seems to be something around the corner that unhinges them.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2024
“Kwon is the one that unhinges us a little bit,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 16, 2022
While all viruses find ways to evade the body's defenses, a growing field of research suggests that the coronavirus unhinges the immune system more profoundly than previously realized.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2021
It’s just before London, like a snake, unhinges its huge mechanical jaws and gulps down a small Bavarian mining town — people, bricks and all: “Prepare to ingest.”
From Washington Post ● Dec. 12, 2018
Zero is so powerful because it unhinges the laws of physics.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
The film shot Curry Barker onto the A-list of new directing talent and made a star of Inde Navarrette and her virtuosically unhinged performance as Nikki.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
A behind-the scenes perspective on the Onion’s gloriously unhinged parody: If you could use a laugh, the absurd comedy on offer at the new Infowars might do the trick.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2026
It’s being remade with Margaret Qualley and the main reason for the movie’s notoriety remains Isabelle Adjani’s unhinged, incantatory performance, a collection of freak-outs that’s still unmatched.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
There was something unconsciously fitting about it all: the spectacle of one old media company offering a platform to an icon of another to say something unhinged, self-obsessed and divorced from reality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Then Spike unhinged his jaw and swallowed the angry wind.
From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan
While inconsistency has always been an irritating feature of his game, at his best Traore is capable of unhinging defences with his pace alone.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2022
Gardner-Johnson smiled and responded playfully to recent questions about his penchant for unhinging receivers.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 12, 2021
I was just so freaked out that I wouldn’t be able to breathe, and when I put it in my mouth, I felt like a snake unhinging my jaw just to put it in.
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2021
The amount of fear he’s feeling now has got to be unhinging him.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 25, 2020
At the end of these recurrent dreams, they watched the grim-lipped officer and the chaplain move toward the unhinging annunciation at the front door.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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.
