unmake
Americanverb (used with object)
-
unmakes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
unmade,
past participle, past
-
unmaking
present participle
-
to cause to be as if never made; reduce to the original elements or condition; undo; destroy.
-
to depose from office or authority; demote in rank.
-
to change the essential point of (a book, play, etc.).
-
to alter the opinion of (one's mind).
-
to change or alter the character of.
verb
-
to undo or destroy
-
to depose from office, rank, or authority
-
to alter the nature of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
unmakesimple
-
unmakessimple
-
have unmadeperfect
-
has unmadeperfect
-
am unmakingprogressive
-
are unmakingprogressive
-
is unmakingprogressive
-
have been unmakingperfect progressive
-
has been unmakingperfect progressive
Past
-
unmadesimple
-
had unmadeperfect
-
was unmakingprogressive
-
were unmakingprogressive
-
had been unmakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of unmake
First recorded in 1350–1400, unmake is from the Middle English word unmaken. See un- 2, make 1
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:
How do we "unmake the self-made myth," Quart asks.
From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2023
There’s no choice in that; there’s no room to really unmake yourself from it.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 8, 2022
In a swift 12 songs and 39 minutes, Vu grapples with what it takes to unmake and remake the self.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2022
This makes the circumstances of his death seem like an accident of timing — as though they didn't result from a decision someone had made and then tacitly renewed by refusing to unmake it.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 10, 2020
He died after a lengthy battle with human consciousness, a victim—as you will be—of the universe’s need to make and unmake all that is possible.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
Limited in range but emotionally enlightening, the instruction resonantly conjugates the way language makes and unmakes us.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
When Morpheus unmakes the Corinthian, he denounces the aggrieved entitlement of the Collectors telling them, "Until now, you have sustained fantasies in which you are the victims, comforting daydreams in which you are always right."
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2022
The artist both unmakes and remakes, transforming everyday objects into both raw material and accomplished art.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 20, 2021
That which makes us also unmakes us, and the process of living seems inextricably bound to the process of dying.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 27, 2017
The world unmakes stuff faster than people can make it.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
Second, they believed that financial fortunes were made and unmade, above all else, by circumstance, meaning that defaults did not tar someone’s financial reputation for life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Mexican media outlets published images of the cabin's luxurious interior, showing furniture with open drawers and unmade beds.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
Mr Evans said it was not "in the middle of nowhere" but was along an unmade track on "quite a busy" public footpath through the wood.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2024
“If I said purple, you’d say red / With your brown hair tumbling like an unmade bed / And we’d both die laughing at something I said / Talking to you.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2023
I unmade my bed and took my sheets to the upstairs with me.
From "The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle" by Leslie Connor
“Because it is the unmaking of an agreement, rescission is an extreme remedy and should only be granted by a court of equity when it is ‘clearly warranted,’” the court wrote in the unsigned opinion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 19, 2025
Bess entered the room and immediately started unmaking the bed.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 9, 2022
Making and unmaking an anus sounds like such an ordeal, you might imagine comb jellies poop rarely.
From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2021
The unmaking of a Beatle: George Harrison’s widow and son on the legacy of ‘All Things Must Pass’
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2021
Back and forth you could go, confirming the exact correspondence between reality and image, making and unmaking your own world.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
