unlearn
Americanverb (used with object)
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to forget or lose knowledge of.
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to discard or put aside certain knowledge as being false or binding.
to unlearn preconceptions.
verb (used without object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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unlearnsimple
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unlearnssimple
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have unlearnedperfect
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have unlearntperfect
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has unlearnedperfect
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has unlearntperfect
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am unlearningprogressive
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are unlearningprogressive
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is unlearningprogressive
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have been unlearningperfect progressive
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has been unlearningperfect progressive
Past
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unlearnedsimple
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unlearntsimple
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had unlearnedperfect
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had unlearntperfect
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was unlearningprogressive
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were unlearningprogressive
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had been unlearningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unlearn
First recorded in 1400–50, unlearn is from the late Middle English word unlernen. See un- 2, learn
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:
“To unlearn certain things is really tricky,” he says at the diner.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Parla, an American who moved to Italy and built a career leading regional food tours, teaching cooking classes, and writing cookbooks, has spent years helping people unlearn the idea of a single Italian cuisine.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
He is still seeking the outer boundaries of his instrument, while everyone else was trying, in some sense, to unlearn that knowledge.
From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024
She said: "Playing Bella was one of the greatest joys in my life and I got to unlearn a lot of things in playing her."
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2024
This is so ingrained, that it is almost impossible to unlearn this Western cultural norm.
From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin
One peculiar mark of the youth, and even of the whole life of Augustin, is the ease with which he unlearns and breaks off his habits—the sentimental as well as the intellectual.
From Saint Augustin by O'Sullivan, Vincent
He unlearns all his useless modesty, and turns little by little into the “man” or the “graybeard” of Hartmann.
From Thoughts Out of Season (Part II) by Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm
It is when we come to the modern plays that we find the poet falling back upon conventional and somewhat clumsy methods of exposition, which he only by degrees, though by rapid degrees, unlearns.
From Play-Making A Manual of Craftsmanship by Archer, William
Once the rock-portal is passed, it unlearns all its sprightly grace and trickles disconsolately through the sands, expiring, at last, in the dreary Chott el Rharsa.
From Fountains in the Sand Rambles Among the Oases of Tunisia by Douglas, Norman
Not all that trial's lore unlearns Of all the lies that life betrays, Avails, for still desire returns— The last day's folly is to-day's.
From The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume I. The Songs of Scotland of the past half century by Rogers, Charles
Mr. Vance has no ill words for the unlearned fundamentalism in which his grandmother raised him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
The South African National Biodiversity Institute, which runs the zoo, denied it, saying it was behaviour learnt from years of circus life that would never be completely unlearned.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2024
This is learned behavior and can be unlearned.
From Seattle Times ● May 20, 2024
“Artists should have unlearned having one platform being their main vehicle,” Flanagan said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
Lelia says there are certain mental pathways of speaking that can never be unlearned.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
"The Fukushima accident is the result of unlearnt lessons of Chernobyl," Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov said.
From Reuters ● Apr. 18, 2011
Long I've unlearnt me that complaint of dole Brings cure of dolours; but a wight in pain To greet is forcèd an the grief be great.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. VIII by Various
One day I had got into a scrape for some piece of carelessness or other, some exercise unfinished, or lesson left unlearnt.
From Autobiographical Reminiscences with Family Letters and Notes on Music by Gounod, Charles
Tom came back from his voyaging knowing a good many things that he had not known when he started—a little English among others—and most of the others things which had been more profitably left unlearnt.
From A Maid of the Silver Sea by Oxenham, John
Such subterfuges show a measure of sensibility, for a hardened liar would despise the shifts, and are curious as illustrations of the childish conscience and its unlearnt casuistry.
From Children's Ways by Sully, James
"The first step to unlearning something is understanding where it is actually happening in the brain," Riesenhuber said.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
Letting go meant unlearning years of habitual behaviour.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2025
The three-episode conclusion has provided Han the opportunity to give Belly a more fully dimensional journey of unlearning bad habits, spreading her wings and figuring out who she wants to be in the world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2025
Nora's character development also drew her to the "Mayhem," Singh said, citing what she refers to as "a journey of unlearning" that's sure to be relatable in this age of existential reassessment.
From Salon ● May 10, 2023
“Yes. I see that....Well, I thank you, Genry. But my business is unlearning, not learning. And I’d rather not yet learn an art that would change the world entirely.”
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
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.
