unlearn
Americanverb (used with object)
-
unlearns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unlearned,
past participle, past
-
unlearnt,
past participle, past
-
unlearning
present participle
-
to forget or lose knowledge of.
-
to discard or put aside certain knowledge as being false or binding.
to unlearn preconceptions.
verb (used without object)
-
unlearns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unlearned,
past participle, past
-
unlearnt,
past participle, past
-
unlearning
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
unlearnsimple
-
unlearnssimple
-
have unlearnedperfect
-
have unlearntperfect
-
has unlearnedperfect
-
has unlearntperfect
-
am unlearningprogressive
-
are unlearningprogressive
-
is unlearningprogressive
-
have been unlearningperfect progressive
-
has been unlearningperfect progressive
Past
-
unlearnedsimple
-
unlearntsimple
-
had unlearnedperfect
-
had unlearntperfect
-
was unlearningprogressive
-
were unlearningprogressive
-
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
You don't unlearn how to drive, and you don't become a miracle wonder driver.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
As I've grown, I have been actively working to unlearn this inherited behavior.
From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2024
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
“We aren’t supposed to have human emotions. Human emotions are no good on Mars. Please unlearn them.”
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
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 Vincent O'Sullivan
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 Norman Douglas
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 Charles Rogers
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 William Archer
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 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
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
“Artists should have unlearned having one platform being their main vehicle,” Flanagan said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
But what we’ve witnessed in these bank runs and collapses is a sign that the lessons of that historic event are still unlearned.
From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2023
The elderly teacher was a man without learning, without the wisdom that some unlearned men acquire with their years, without even the saving grace of kindness.
From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt
Despite these changes, some lessons remained unlearnt for years after 9/11.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
"The Fukushima accident is the result of unlearnt lessons of Chernobyl," Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov said.
From Reuters ● Apr. 18, 2011
And a hundred lessons on farming had to be learnt, and a hundred more to be unlearnt.
From Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back Again A Life Story by Joseph Barker
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 Charles Gounod
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
When attackers retrained models on dangerous knowledge, capabilities removed by conventional unlearning sprang back to nearly full strength.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
An unlearning of this scale begs to be satirized.
From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2025
That means unlearning the language that perpetuates harm and stereotypes, and being more compassionate and humane across the board.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2025
"It's left me with a lot of unlearning to do," says Courtney.
From BBC ● Nov. 29, 2024
“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
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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.
