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
-
have been unhingingperfect progressive
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has been unhingingperfect progressive
Past
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unhingedsimple
-
had unhingedperfect
-
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
Will 4-7 unhinge them like so many FedEx teams in the last decade that packed up the season when things got tough after Turkey Day?
From Washington Post ● Nov. 27, 2015
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
That unleashed force is plied most artfully here to create a portrait of how grief unhinges, disarranges and heightens everyday life.
From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2019
Zero is so powerful because it unhinges the laws of physics.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
The avatar isn’t designed to mimic an unhinged client, or one asking “gotcha” questions, said Saleem Zafar, a partner in McKinsey’s Dallas office who helped design the pilot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
"I have done some incredibly unhinged things to survive," she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
On particularly volatile days, strategists and bond managers have expressed concerns about the risk of long-dated Treasury yields becoming unhinged.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
There’s a glorious power scream at the end that parallels similar unrestrained, slightly unhinged sounds from the guitars.
From Salon ● Aug. 25, 2026
Understand that restrained is usually better than expansive and that unhinged almost never works.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
