unhinge
Americanverb (used with object)
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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:
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
To maximize loft, unhinge your wrists aggressively at the bottom of the swing.
From Golf Digest ● Mar. 17, 2017
She had plenty of other worries to unhinge her.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
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
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
The film caught fire before it was even released, fueled by a marketing strategy that featured an interactive billboard with increasingly unhinged messages from Nikki and an automated hotline for fans to text with her.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
They have what few candidates get: the opportunity to be unhinged and distracting in the opposite direction of someone like RFK Jr.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026
Owens, for her part, has spent years building an audience through increasingly unhinged provocations.
From Salon ● May 23, 2026
The driver’s-side back door of the station wagon was partially unhinged; it was swinging open and then slamming shut again.
From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo
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
The amount of fear he’s feeling now has got to be unhinging him.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 25, 2020
But more significantly, the fact that the movie about halfway through heads off into fictional territory, that would be a little bit unhinging for a teenager if he began thinking that it was true.
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 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.
