unhinge

[uhn-hinj]

verb (used with object)

unhinged, unhinging 

1. to remove (a door or the like) from hinges.

2. to open wide by or as if by removing supporting hinges.

   to unhinge one's jaws.

3. to upset; unbalance; disorient; throw into confusion or turmoil.

   to unhinge the mind.

4. to dislocate or disrupt the normal operation of; unsettle.

   to unhinge plans.

5. to detach or separate from something.

6. to cause to waver or vacillate.

   to unhinge supporters of conservative policies.

unhinge

/ ʌnˈhɪndʒ /

verb

1. to remove (a door, gate, etc) from its hinges

2. to derange or unbalance (a person, his mind, etc)

3. to disrupt or unsettle (a process or state of affairs)

4. (usually foll by from) to detach or dislodge

Other Word Forms

• unhingement noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unhinge¹

First recorded in 1605–15; un- ² + hinge

Example Sentences

Fred’s boss is a man of “slightly unhinged intensity,” whom Fred has seen, more than once, “weep on cue, before the entire district, like a fund-raising evangelist.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

I became unhinged, describing the connection Allen and I had, the things he would say and how he would make me feel.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“We just became a walking Find My Phone for an unhinged god who wants to use your soul power—I mean, your sunsum—to bring back the dead Mother Earth?”

Read more on Literature

But Penelope was not about to be unhinged by the clicking of train wheels.

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To date, there is no known case addressing what happens when an unhinged president deliberately escalates domestic violence and civil unrest in order to justify military deployments.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• fluster 
• unbalance