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Synonyms

unsee

American  
[uhn-see] / ˌʌnˈsi /

verb (used with object)

unsaw, unseen, unseeing

  1. to remove (something seen) from one's memory or conscious awareness; to forget or ignore images or the like.

    It's a good tutorial for anyone who's ever published something and then found a mistake they can't unsee in it.

    He really wished he could unsee the violent images he had accidentally glimpsed.

Etymology

Origin of unsee

First recorded in 1350–1400

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.

Between the two actors’ faces lies a vast expanse of experience, disappointment, and things that Kay has seen and can’t unsee.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

It’s sort of like there’s an image that you can’t unsee.

From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2025

Now that we’ve unearthed these lines, we can’t unsee them.

From Slate • Feb. 17, 2025

The insight that Burana speaks of is painfully omnidirectional, and we can also never unsee what we now know about some of the people closest to us — or the agenda they're willing to support.

From Salon • Nov. 6, 2024

He looks extra golfy today, in a tucked-in polo shirt, and now I can’t unsee the Prince William thing.

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli

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.