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
- unhingement noun
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.
With his inane bleating on television about taking over the world, Graham sounded unhinged.
From Salon
Capitol Police were attempting to remove an unhinged protestor from the Armed Services hearing.
From Salon
As Raftery writes, television and films had, at the time, generated the notion that serial killers were “unhinged lunatics,” but the agents discovered a different side.
From Los Angeles Times
She’s repeatedly keen to clarify that she’s nothing like M even as she defends her, as if she’s slowly realizing just how unhinged the character comes off in the series.
From Los Angeles Times
Heathcliff might have been the most overtly unhinged boyfriend adolescent girls encountered in their assigned reading list, but he was far from the only one, even within the extended Brontë universe.
From Salon
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.
