unhinged

[uhn-hinjd]

adjective

1. having no hinge or hinges, or with the hinges removed.

   an unhinged gate.

2. unsettled, disordered, or distraught.

   He became unhinged when his friend died.

Word History and Origins

Origin of unhinged¹

First recorded in 1710–20; unhinged ( def. 1 ) un- ¹ + hinged ( def. ); unhinged ( def. 2 ) unhinge + -ed ²

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.

Read more on Literature

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

• deranged 
• disturbed 
• manic 
• unbalanced